| The federal government is shut down and National Park employees are bracing for another disaster. The last Trump shutdown, which began in late December 2018 and lasted 35 days, was a period of “chaos and destruction” for America’s national parks. “Prehistoric petroglyphs were vandalized at Big Bend,” recalls the Guardian’s Gabrielle Canon, and “Joshua trees, some more than a century old, were chopped down at Joshua Tree.” Animals were illegally killed, trash was strewn across the landscape, park toilets overflowed with feces, and fights broke out over campsites. The administration’s plan is similar this time around, our Climate Desk partners report. The parks will use recreation fees to keep basic services like bathrooms open, even though tens of thousands of employees are furloughed—a move found unlawful by the Government Accountability Office in a 2019 opinion. Despite its failure to safeguard the parks, the administration is also eager to keep them open for resource extraction. Oil and gas permitting will continue unimpeded, and the administration has just invited the coal industry to come do its dirty business on public lands. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced this past Monday that the administration would dedicate 13.1 million acres—and $625 million in federal assistance—to help revive America’s most polluting and expensive energy source. But don’t bother asking your government about the environmental impacts of any of this. A Department of Energy official advised employees this week to avoid using climate-related words in their communications, including “emissions,” “climate change,” “sustainable,” and “green.” “My reaction was: ‘Same shit, different day,’” one Department of Energy staffer told the Guardian. These moves have not left government employees feeling hopeful. The shutdown itself will provide cover, experts expect, for more layoffs in various agencies. Trump straight up warned of “mass firings” in an NBC News interview, and agency employees have been getting emails from their higher-ups blaming the shutdown on Democrats. Some workers have found ways to express their dismay. On Instagram, a group of parks employees calling themselves Resistance Rangers implored would-be visitors to delay their trips until the shutdown ends: “If you have plans to visit a National Park site—even if the website says it’s open—please don’t. The best thing you can do for parks right now is stay away.” —Henry Carnell |
| TOP STORYWILLIAM CAMPBELL/CORBIS/GETTY Keeping National Parks Open During The Shutdown Could Prove CatastrophicThe 2018–2019 shutdown resulted in irreversible damage.THE GUARDIAN |
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