Overview

• An Interior contingency plan says roads, trails and open-air memorials will stay open but staffed buildings will close, with restrooms serviced and emergency response limited.
• Roughly 64% of National Park Service employees will be furloughed, with retained personnel restricted to excepted duties such as law enforcement and fire response.
• Two people briefed on the plan say the administration intends to tap recreation fees to fund skeleton crews, a tactic used in 2018–19 that later drew a GAO legal rebuke.
• More than 40 former superintendents and conservation groups are urging closures, citing vandalism, resource damage and safety problems seen during the last prolonged shutdown.
• States are splitting on support as Utah readies help to keep sites accessible and Arizona declines to fund Grand Canyon operations, with economists estimating $1 billion in weekly travel losses.