Lawmakers fear consequences of keeping national parks open during shutdown

The 2018-19 shutdown saw overflowing trash and some damage at the parks.

October 02, 2025

Some lawmakers are wincing as President Donald Trump has ordered National Parks to remain open and operated by a skeleton crew during the government shutdown.

“I am concerned about parks being accessible, being safe, being maintained adequately, I think it’s a very serious concern,” said Sen. Angus King, an independent of Maine who caucuses with Democrats. “It’s one of the things that was bothering me yesterday, when I decided not to vote to shut the government down.”

King, the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, has good reason for such concern: During the 2018-19 shutdown, parks were kept open by siphoning entrance fees to fund slimmed-down crews of park employees.

Staff were overwhelmed and couldn’t perform typical functions — leaving overflowing trash bins, dirty bathrooms and litter. In one prominent incident, several of the iconic trees at Joshua Tree National Park in California were felled.

Now, Trump is using the same tactic to keep the parks running — and among some lawmakers, the memory of the last shutdown is weighing on them as a deal to fund the government remains out of reach. One environmental group called the administration's plan "stupid, short-sighted and incredibly dangerous."

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, said she had some concerns about the parks. She said the shutdown could adversely impact an annual BASE jumping event hosted in the New River Gorge National Park.

“I mean, yeah, I think that’s why we need to reopen the government,” Capito said. “Our park has Bridge Day, which is a big event where they BASE jump off our bridge. … The park has a big role in that, so if the maintenance is not there, that’d be a source of concern.”

There’s worry in the House, too, where Natural Resources ranking member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) said the administration had not been forthcoming about how they will manage the parks during the shutdown.

“There’s a risk to damage and to safety and all kinds of considerations,” Huffman said. “The types of things that this administration tends to cut corners on even when the government’s open. This is a difficult moment, and I worry about it in every way.”

He added, “There’s a lot of conflicting information right now and frankly there’s not enough transparency and actual information from the Trump administration.”

Little worry among some Republicans

National parks enjoy widespread bipartisan support, and shutting them down entirely is not a popular option on Capitol Hill — the parks are economic engines for outdoor recreation and tourism. Some senators were adamant that they need to stay open even as the government is shuttered.

“Everything’s good to go right now, we’re keeping them open,” Daines said. “I’ve chatted with some of the superintendents and so forth and they’re feeling good and we’ll continue moving forward.”

Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the no. 2 Republican in the Senate and a senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, also did not express concerns.

“Talked to the head of Yellowstone National Park, and they are open and staying open,” Barrasso said.

But national park groups and conservationists have warned that leaving the parks open and operated by skeleton crews could have detrimental consequences.

A group of 40 former park superintendents across the country wrote to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, urging him to shutter the parks in the event of a shutdown.

“Past shutdowns in which gates remained open with limited staff have hurt our parks: Iconic symbols cut down and vandalized, trash piled up, habitats destroyed, and visitor safety jeopardized,” they wrote. “If you don’t act now, history is not just doomed to repeat itself, the damage could in fact be much worse.”

‘Stupid, short-sighted and incredibly dangerous’

Other groups, like the Center for Biological Diversity, went even further.

“Keeping our national parks open after Trump and Republicans forced a government shutdown is stupid, short-sighted and incredibly dangerous,” said Stephanie Kurose, deputy director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “But apparently nothing says ‘Make America Great Again’ like turning Yosemite into one giant toilet.”

Democrats with jurisdiction over the parks shared that worry, but did not go all-in on closing the parks.

“The skeleton crew part is not ideal,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Heinrich suggested that the parks could remain open without risk if park employees are deemed essential — a classification that would allow them to avoid furlough through the shutdown.

“I actually think we should keep public lands open and that public land employees should be deemed essential because of the health and safety role they play,” he said.

“People are gonna be out on those landscapes, we need to make sure they’re doing that safely and we need to make sure that the resources do not suffer the damages that we saw the last time around.”

Huffman, Heinrich’s House counterpart, said “I agree with that” when asked about Heinrich’s proposal. But he’s not keeping his hopes up that the administration will follow it.

“The one thing I think we know for sure is that whatever they decide, it will be 100 percent political,” Huffman said. “It will not be about the best interests of park visitors or the resources or public safety or anything else, it’ll be about how to tweak Democrats and score points.”


By:  Garrett Downs
Source: Politico E&E Daily