‘Trash, human waste and disregard for the rules’: welcome to US national parks during shutdown
- ‘It’s a free-for-all,’ said a local near iconic Yosemite National Park, of visitors breaking rules, toilets overflowing and rubbish left along the sides of roads
Human faeces, overflowing rubbish, illegal off-roading and other damaging behaviour in fragile areas are overwhelming some of America’s iconic national parks, as a partial government shutdown left areas open to visitors with few staff.
“It’s a free-for-all,” Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, said on Monday, as Yosemite National Park announced the closure of campgrounds and public areas that are overwhelmed. “It’s so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I’ve seen in my four years living here.”
The 10th day of the partial federal government shutdown, which has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees, has left many parks and campgrounds without rangers and other staff keeping them running.
Unlike previous shutdowns, the Trump administration was leaving parks open to visitors, said John Garder, senior budget director of the non-profit National Parks Conservation Association.
“We’re afraid that we’re going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artefacts,” he said. “We’re concerned there’ll be impacts to visitors’ safety. It’s really a nightmare scenario.”