PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 As the government shutdown continues, it\u2019s impacting Arizona\u2019s national parks. Walnut Canyon is completely closed, and other Arizona national parks and monuments are only partially operational.<\/p>\n
Park employee advocates said this is just another blow to these workers after already dealing with mass layoffs at the beginning of this year. <\/p>\n
About 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon every year; however, because of the shutdown, this week, there were no park employees to service the park full of visitors. <\/p>\n
At national monuments like Sunset Crater and Wupatki, it was a similar scene. Alex Johnson with the National Parks Conservation Association said almost two-thirds of the staffing is furloughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn situations like this, where the government shuts down, it\u2019s a real challenge to maintain that level of service, to protect the wildlife, to keep people from walking off trail, et cetera, et cetera, cleaning bathrooms,\u201d Johnson said<\/p>\n
He said because of the lack of staffing, it can be dangerous and challenging not having staff, so they would like to see the park\u2019s closure. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there\u2019s really no guarantee unless the parks are fully staffed and fully funded to protect all of the things we love about national parks,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s not just impacting the visitors but also the staff without work. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hearing from those furloughed workers that, you know, they\u2019re just concerned about what the impacts will be to these park units, while they are not working,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
On top of the shutdown, Johnson said there is a real risk that there could be more mass layoffs of park employees. <\/p>\n
Just this summer the Supreme Court lifted a lower court injunction that was blocking President Trump\u2019s order for federal agencies to prepare for large-scale layoffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of these short-term impacts that we\u2019re seeing just this weekend and into next week, if the shutdown continues, some of those may become permanent if the Trump administration does move forward with these mass staff terminations,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
He said they are urging the Trump administration not to pursue mass layoffs because it\u2019s not just visitor experience that will be impacted, but also research and long-term park care. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll of those things aren\u2019t necessarily seen by visitors when they come for, a couple hours or a couple days, but all those are really critical to, keeping these parks what they are for generations to come,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
For the parks that are open, conservation groups said visitors can help in during the shutdown by taking their trash with them when they leave and supporting businesses around these parks and monuments during the shutdown. <\/p>\n
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