Visitors to Mesa Verde National Park are advised to use “extreme caution” during a partial federal government shutdown that began midnight Friday.
Large signs at the entrance to the visitors center and main entrance to the park state the National Park Service is unable to fully staff the park, but it is also not feasible to close or prohibit access to all parks.
As employees are not able to provide guidance, assistance, maintenance or emergency response, entrance to the park is “at the visitor’s sole risk,” the sign states. The NPS will not issue permits, collect trash, provide restrooms, provide visitor information or plow roads.
“In the event of a government shutdown, national parks will remain as accessible as possible while still following all applicable laws and procedures,” National Park Service Chief Spokesperson Jeremy Barnum stated in an email to The Journal on Friday. “For example, this means that roads that have already been open will remain open and vault toilets will remain open.”
In Montezuma County, 40 percent of land is owned by the federal government. Mesa Verde National Park encompasses 52,000 acres, or 82 square miles, of federal land managed by the NPS. Canyons of the Ancients National Monument encompasses 176,000 acres, or 275 square miles, of federal land under the Bureau of Land Management.
Employees at several federal offices in the Four Corners area contacted by phone on Friday were unsure what would happen if Congress failed to fund the government by the midnight deadline.
“We typically don’t know a whole lot more than what some of the news outlets are reporting,” Corey Ertl, rangeland management specialist for the Dolores Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service, said Friday morning.
Joni Vanderbilt, U.S Forest Service acting public affairs officer for San Juan National Forest, stated in an email to The Journal that the Office of Management and Budget will issue instructions to affected federal agencies if the shutdown goes into effect. But those instructions have been different every time a shutdown has occurred in the past, she stated.
“We have not received those instructions yet, so we cannot speculate on what a shutdown would look like,” Vanderbilt stated.
A BLM spokesperson in Montrose directed The Journal to email the office in Washington. The office did not immediately respond.
“We’re all just watching the news,” BLM spokesperson Kristen Lenhardt said.
President Donald Trump, who previously said he would “take the mantle” of a shutdown, on Friday said the shutdown could drag on “for a very long time.” The Associated Press reports that more than 800,000 federal workers face furloughs or will be forced to work without pay during the shutdown.
Nine of 15 Cabinet-level departments and dozens of agencies would face a lapse in funding, including the departments of Homeland Security, Transportation, Interior, Agriculture, State and Justice, as well as national parks and forests.
Many agencies, including the Pentagon and the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, are funded for the year and would continue to operate as usual. The U.S. Postal Service, busy delivering packages for the holiday season, would not be affected by any government shutdown because it’s an independent agency.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.[email protected]
