Thread: Obama Administration to Let States Pay to Open Parks Amid Shutdown

Wall Street Journal
By Tamara Audi
10/11/2013

Obama Administration to Let States Pay to Open Parks Amid Shutdown

The Obama administration said it would allow states to use their own money to reopen some national parks that have been closed because of the government shutdown.

After more than a week of outcry from business owners, tourists and politicians, the Obama administration is considering allowing states to reopen national parks using state funds.

The nation’s 401 national parks have been closed since last Tuesday, when a government shutdown took effect. The park service has furloughed more than 20,000 workers. Since then, several governors, as well as private citizens and one town council, have offered to pay for the reopening or partial reopening of some parks, including the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

On Thursday, Secretary of the Department of the Interior Sally Jewell spoke with the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Arizona about the possibility of using state funds to reopen national parks in their states. Those governors had pressed the Obama administration for such an option, citing economic losses in their states as a result of the closures.

“Responding to the economic impacts that the park closures are having on many communities and local businesses, Secretary Jewell will consider agreements with governors who indicate an interest and ability to fully fund National Park Service personnel to reopen national parks in their states,” her spokesman said Thursday.

It was unclear Thursday when and which parks might reopen. Governors and federal officials said details were still being worked out, but a spokesman for Ms. Jewell described her conversations with governors as “productive.”

“I’m so happy, I’m almost doing a jig,” said Greg Bryan, the mayor of Tusayan, a town on the southern rim of the Grand Canyon whose survival depends on tourism. The town of 558 residents had raised nearly $400,000 to support a partial reopening of the Grand Canyon National Park. The town has lost $1 million during the closure, Mr. Bryan said.

In Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert hoped to open the state’s five national parks, including Zion National Park.

“This gives us the green light to proceed with options,” said Ally Isom, deputy chief of staff for Mr. Herbert. She added that the state still has to determine “the funding mechanism…We do know once we secure that funding the parks can be reopened and fully operational within 24 hours.”

Costs were still being calculated, state and federal officials said—noting that the costs would in large part depend on the length of the shutdown. California officials, who said they wouldn’t entertain using state funds to reopen their national parks, noted that eventual reimbursement would have to be approved by Congress.

Even state officials who had lobbied to use state funds to reopen the parks cautioned that there were still many issues to be worked out before the parks could reopen.

One sticking point could be if federal officials insist on fully reopening the parks, a much more expensive proposition than a partial reopening.

Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s call with Ms. Jewell “was productive, but it certainly left us with many unanswered questions,” said Ms. Brewer’s spokesman, Andrew Wilder. “Does it have to be a full reopening? What does that cost? Can private money be used?”

Communities around the Grand Canyon support a partial reopening, which would at least allow visitors to drive on its main road and see its views.

Mr. Wilder said if federal officials demand a full reopening, that would raise “concerns as to whether or not the Obama administration is serious about reopening” the parks using state funds. “It’s setting the bar at an unattainable level,” he said.

Partial reopenings could prove challenging, said Neil Mulholland, president of the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit foundation established to support the parks system.

“There are a myriad of things that have to be in place for the parks to be open,” Mr. Mulholland said. “The parks are multifaceted, and the staffing is multifaceted. The staff are experts in life safety, ecology management and public safety.”

As of Thursday afternoon, it was unclear if South Dakota intended to move forward with opening Mount Rushmore National Memorial with its own money.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican, received a phone call from Secretary Jewell on Thursday morning, according Tony Venhuizen, a spokesman for the governor.

In the conversation, Ms. Jewell explained the terms of the National Park Service’s proposal, which allows Mount Rushmore National Memorial to reopen but requires that all related amenities, such as the park’s gift shop, be functional and that federal employees be employed at the state’s expense. In an earlier proposal from Gov. Daugaard last week, state workers would run the park with limited services and therefore incur minimal costs to the state.

“We’re happy with the change in approach,” said Mr. Venhuizen. “That’s a good thing. But we still don’t have all the details, and so we don’t know if it will be workable or not.”

Federal officials are sketching out the projected costs to the state now, he said.

While some states, like Utah, have big hopes to open all their national parks, others have modest intentions.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, wants to open one road in Rocky Mountain National Park that serves as an access point into a town impacted by recent flooding in the state.

“We are working with the Department of Interior and our congressional delegation to reopen the road,” said Eric Brown, a spokesman for the governor.

–Caroline Porter, Jim Carlton and Nathan Koppel contributed to this article.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/the-fisc...4/SS-2-351742/

If there was a way to retain the perpetuity of our National Parks and get the United Nations and federal gov's hands off of them, it would be much better to have the States take ownership of them away from the feds.

This would never happen again ..