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Home/Canyon Column/2019 Archives/Shutdown Grinds on at Grand Canyon National Park

Shutdown Grinds on at Grand Canyon National Park

The El Tovar framed by snow | Photo by Mike Buchheit
The El Tovar framed by snow | Photo by Mike Buchheit

Twenty-five days into the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, life in the developed areas of the Grand Canyon National Park’s South Rim is oddly normal. Visitors continue to cluster on the overlooks, slip and slide down the snow-covered trails, frequent the eateries, souvenir shop in the retail outlets, and retire at day’s end in the lodges.

To the untrained eye, it is business as usual. Missing are access to the Visitor Centers, interpretive ranger talks and walks, Backcountry Office permitting and crucial advice for below-the-rim hikers, scientific study, and a myriad of other critical National Park Service-specific visitor services.

Much of the current “normalcy” has been made possible by emergency funding by the state of Arizona, whose governor has pledged to keep the state’s number one tourist attraction open indefinitely.

Most recently, a controversial tapping of the Federal Land and Recreation Enhancement Funds has been approved to allow a targeted NPS presence at the entrance stations; not to exact entrance fees, but in an informational capacity.

These funds are earmarked for future projects, and using them for basic maintenance and custodial needs is seen by critics as jeopardizing the future of our national parks to address a reckless political standoff.

With a fresh six inches of snow on the ground this morning, the park looks as magical as ever. Hopefully the frosty relations in the nation’s Capital will thaw sooner than this overnight bounty, and Grand Canyon National Park can once again be the professionally operated, fully-accessible destination that visitors deserve.

  • UPDATED | Interior Department Tests Legal Boundaries In Redirecting Fee Monies To National Park Garbage Collection

Published on: January 15, 2019

Categories: 2019 Archives, Canyon ColumnTags: Federal Land and Recreation Enhancement Funds, government shutdown, state of Arizona, visitor services

About Mike Buchheit

Mike Buchheit was the director of the Grand Canyon Conservancy Field Institute for over 25 years, a professional landscape photographer and instructor, a freelance travel writer, and a popular lecturer on a wide variety of Grand Canyon-related topics. As a long-time resident, 3,000-mile hiker, and frequent river runner, the Iowa native has gained an intimate knowledge of the park that he called home.

As a long-time resident, 3,000-mile hiker, and frequent river runner, the Iowa native has gained an intimate knowledge of the park that he calls home. You can see some of his beautiful work on his Grand Canyon Prints website.

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