National Parks Open with State Funds Due to Shutdown
With the continuing government shutdown several states have decided to ask the federal government to use state funds in order to open the closed national parks.
Governors in at least four states have asked for authority to reopen national parks within their borders because of the economic impacts caused by the park closures.
All 401 national park units have been closed since Oct. 1 because of the government shutdown. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees have been furloughed and local economies impacted that depend on tourism.
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"Utah's national parks are the backbone of many rural economies and hard-working Utahans are paying a heavy price for this shutdown," Utah's Governor Gary Herbert said in a statement. "I commend Secretary Jewell for being open to Utah's solution, and the world should know Utah is open for business and visitors are welcome."
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the government will consider offers to use state money to resume park operations, but will not surrender control of national parks or monuments to the states.
President Obama has previously stated that he is willing to negotiate but only after Congress opens the government and raises the debt limit.
"They're not doing me a favor by paying for things that they have already approved for the government to do. That's part of their basic function of government; that's not doing me a favor. That's doing what the American people sent them here to do, carrying out their responsibilities," the president told NPR.
"I have said consistently that I'm always happy to talk to Republicans and Democrats about how we shape a budget that is investing in things like early childhood education, rebuilding our roads and bridges and putting people back to work, growing our economy, making sure that we have the research and development to stay at the cutting edge and that deals with some of our long-term debt issues. But we're not going to accomplish those things if one party to this conversation says that the only way that they come to the table is if they get 100 percent of what they want and if they don't, they threaten to burn down the house," he said.
