CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Shenandoah National Park remains open with a reduced staff during the government shutdown that started midnight October 1. The Shenandoah National Park Trust notes “there is no formal rule or law mandating the closure of National Parks during a government shutdown. Past decisions on park closures have been discretionary. For instance, during the 2013 shutdown, Jon Jarvis, who served as NPS Director from 2009 to 2017, chose to close the parks to prevent potential damage. However, in the extended government shutdown spanning 35 days from late 2018 to early 2019, the Trump administration opted to keep National Park gates open, staffed only by a skeleton crew of essential workers.” The latter is what’s happening right now.

The Interior Department last month issued a full “Contingency Plan for a Potential Lapse in Appropriations”. Click here for the full document.

Most of the 16,000 National Park employees nationwide are furloughed, but Politico reports the Trump Administration is using fee money collected to keep skeleton crews on the job. Entry gates staffing, law enforcement, trash collection, and campground operations will continue, but visitors’ centers and some other functions will be closed.