Overview

• Open-air areas such as roads, trails, lookouts and memorials will generally remain accessible, while staffed buildings like visitor centers and lockable sites will close with limited emergency services available.
• Roughly 64% of National Park Service employees will be furloughed, with excepted staff focused on law enforcement, fire response and other critical safety functions.
• The plan authorizes use of recreation-fee revenue to maintain restrooms, collect trash, keep roads and campgrounds functional and staff gates for safety information.
• A 2019 Government Accountability Office opinion said using recreation fees to replace appropriated funds during a shutdown violated federal law, a concern revived by the new plan.
• Conservation groups and more than 40 former park superintendents urge full closures to prevent damage seen in 2018–19, while states diverge on support, with Utah signaling readiness to help and Arizona declining funds for Grand Canyon operations; travel economists estimate about $1 billion in weekly losses to the national tourism economy.