National Parks Face Closure if U.S. Government Shuts Down

Travelers planning to visit a national park soon should be aware: the U.S. Department of Interior has stated that most National Park Service (NPS) sites will close in the event of a government shutdown that could begin this Sunday.

Congress has until September 30 to finalize a funding agreement; failure to do so will trigger a government shutdown starting October 1.

In a fact sheet shared with Dinogo, the Department of Interior noted, “Most national parks will be completely closed to the public. Gates will be locked, visitor centers will be shut down, and thousands of park rangers will be furloughed.”

The National Park Service employs around 20,000 permanent, temporary, and seasonal staff, overseeing 425 units that cover over 85 million acres. NPS sites include national parks, monuments, historic sites, and recreation areas, among other classifications.

Parks seeking to stay open may explore alternative funding from state, local, or Tribal governments, as well as donations from organizations, though these funds will not be reimbursed by the federal government. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs declared that Grand Canyon National Park would remain open, utilizing funding from the Arizona Lottery. Likewise, Utah lawmakers are developing a strategy to keep its five national parks operational.

The Interior Department indicated that national park areas that cannot be completely closed, such as certain roads, viewpoints, trails, campgrounds, and memorials, will remain accessible to the public. However, the agency cautioned that staffing levels and services—including restroom maintenance, trash collection, road upkeep, campground operations, and emergency services—will vary and are not guaranteed.

The public has been urged to avoid visiting these lands during a potential shutdown “to help protect natural and cultural resources, as well as ensure visitor safety.”

Some services will continue, including those deemed essential by the Department of Interior “to safeguard life and property,” such as law enforcement, emergency response, coastal surveillance, fire management (including containment and monitoring), and maintenance of certain federal lands, buildings, waterways, and power distribution.

“If Congress fails to fulfill its responsibilities and fund the government, the National Park Service must take necessary actions to protect our most cherished places by closing their gates,” said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the nation’s national parks.

“During the previous shutdown [in 2018-2019], when parks functioned with minimal staff, we watched helplessly as Joshua trees were destroyed, park buildings suffered vandalism, ancient petroglyphs were damaged, trash accumulated, and human waste overflowed. Visitor safety at parks nationwide was jeopardized. We cannot let this happen again,” Pierno remarked.

The last instance when all national parks closed due to a government shutdown was in 2013, which lasted for 16 days. The 2018-2019 shutdown extended for 35 days, making it the longest in history. Some parks shut down entirely while others operated with reduced staffing. Even though the protected areas were open to the public, there were no staff at the entrances to collect fees or check passes, run information centers, or help maintain cleanliness, and it significantly impacted the national park sites. Trash bins in national parks and monuments overflowed with litter, and human waste around locked restroom facilities posed health risks.

The National Park Service has stated that it suffered a revenue loss of $500 million (excluding the financial burden of cleanup efforts) during the 2018-2019 shutdown.

A future government shutdown would be “extremely harmful” to the parks and their surrounding communities, according to NPCA’s Pierno. The organization estimates that national parks could lose more than $1 million in fee revenue for every day they are closed.

“This funding is essential for supporting law enforcement, maintenance projects, visitor services, and wildlife habitat restoration,” Pierno emphasized, adding that “local businesses dependent on park visitors could be forced to shut down with no assurance of when they might reopen.”

Reporting by Bailey Berg.