fed shutdown blocks access to grand canyon

[niyad]

(just one example of the effect of the shutdown--I hope all these people remember who to thank)


Fed shutdown blocks access to Grand Canyon

http://i2.mail.com/736/2368736,h=425,pd=1,w=620.jpg

Photo: AP Karen and Tom Jacobs, of Carrollton, Texas, look out over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2013. National parks would close Tuesday if an agreement is not reached on the federal budget.



GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Looking over the edge of the Grand Canyon. Check. Touring the iconic park by Jeep. That will have to wait.
Alan and Leana Platt spent six months planning their three-day trip to the Grand Canyon. They took a walk around the South Rim on Monday but won't be able to see it by Jeep, with lawmakers failing to reach an agreement on the federal budget by Tuesday and park workers temporarily furloughed.
"If people have gone to great lengths to come to the gate, there's a lot of cost in planning," said Alan Platt, of Pretoria, South Africa. "Not only with that, the emotional damage." Employees of Grand Canyon National Park who were told to show up to work as scheduled on Tuesday now will have four hours to secure files and property, and leave a voicemail saying they'll be out of the office indefinitely.

Law enforcement, security and health officials will stay on the job to carry out the shutdown over four days. Trails, campgrounds and hotels will be cleared, but park officials won't be scouring the entire 1.2 million-acre park looking for people. Visitors already hiking or camping in the backcountry or taking rafting trips on the Colorado River will be able to complete their trips. Helicopter tours also will continue.

About 18,000 people visit the Grand Canyon daily in October, when temperatures are in the 70s and visitors can see the leaves changing colors on the drive. Nationally, about 715,000 people a day visited the 401 areas within the national park system last October, contributing about $76 million a day to local economies, said National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst.

With the shutdown, the agency expects to lose about $450,000 a day through entrance fees, backcountry permits, boat rentals and other sales. At the Grand Canyon park, authorities will be posted at entrance gates and turn back visitors, while others will cordon off overlooks along a state highway that will remain open to through traffic. Signs will be placed at trailheads telling people they have to leave.

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http://www.mail.com/business/finance/2368732-fed-shutdown-blocks-access-to-grand-canyon.html#.23140-stage-hero1-4

[TwilightGardener]

1. All to prevent the uninsured from gaining access to health care. Utter insanity.

[niyad]

2. and that is putting it very mildly indeed.

[Whiskeytide]

3. I was planning a trip to Mammoth Cave...

... in two weeks as a side excursion on a football game trip to KY. It is now shut down. Kids will be disappointed, but I will make sure they understand who is behind all of this.