The National Park Service will use funds from entry and parking fees to help clean and maintain national parks during the partial government shutdown, a move which prompted an immediate call for an investigation by a Democrat-led House committee.
The showdown which has cut appropriations for the agency, stemming from a political fight over border wall funding, has rendered America’s national parks largely unsupervised. However, that has not stopped people from going in to enjoy the sights, leaving the parks vulnerable, restrooms locked, and trashcans overflowing across the country.
NPS claims the blow has been eased with assistance from state, private sector, and volunteer partners, as well as two million dollars’ worth of donations, helping keep open some services for visitors in 40 of the most popular parks.
But in a statement Sunday, the top National Park Service official said the “generosity” of these partners and limited staff are reaching their limit 16 days into the shutdown and that the “option” they have chosen to address the issue is to redirect money derived from entrance, camping, parking, and other fees that would otherwise likely be used for future projects.
“We are taking this extraordinary step to ensure that parks are protected, and that visitors can continue to access parks with limited basic services,” said acting director P. Daniel Smith. He also said the use of these funds will help protect visitors.
Reacting to the news, Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the new Democratic chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said his panel will “demand answers” about the legality of such a move.
In a statement shared via Twitter, Grijalva blamed the extreme measures taken by the Interior Department agency on President Trump and his advisers for realizing to late the “terrible damage” they have caused. “The president expects them to either pay more to keep the toilets clean out of their own pockets or pay millions of dollars for his ridiculous wall. Either way, this president is only happy as long as the American people pay for his every whim whenever it suits him,” he said.
Smith said NPS was redirecting funds for upkeep only after consulting the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of the Interior, adding that it had been “determined that these funds can and should be used to provide immediate assistance and services to highly visited parks during the lapse in appropriations.”
The funds will be redirected in the coming days at numerous parks to clean up dirty restrooms, restore accessibility in certain areas appropriate for the time of year, and bring in additional law enforcement rangers to oversee accessible areas.
Smith stressed that NPS remains unable to fully open parks and that smaller sites around the country remained closed.
