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It’s a good time to visit Zion National Park — if you’re OK with not having access to many visitor services because of the government shutdown

(Tom Wharton | The Salt Lake Tribune) Most national parks have closed their campgrounds. Zion National Park was no exception.

Zion National Park • Like most school teachers, Beth Cottrell is naturally curious.

So the retired Columbus, Ohio, instructor was more than a little disappointed that the federal government shutdown resulted in the closure of the Zion National Park visitor center and furlough of its interpretive staff.

“You don’t get the educational information from the ranger,” she said Sunday while exploring Zion with husband, Jim, and their two sons on a long-planned western vacation. “I would have asked the ranger how it was formed.”

Utah’s most popular park seemed quieter than normal Sunday — the second day of the federal shutdown. That’s probably more because late January is one of the slowest times of the year and road construction in nearby Springdale often brings traffic to a halt.

Unlike the 2013 shutdown, many national parks remain open. That was obvious Sunday at Zion as visitors snapped photos, hiked popular trails and visited the Zion Lodge, which remained open and provided the only flush toilets available in the park.

But they are unable to camp and will find resource centers and restrooms closed. No trash pickup or fees will be collected. No backcountry or wilderness permits will be available.

Social media and websites are not being maintained by the National Park Service. The five Utah national park websites simply had a brief notice saying the shutdown had affected visitor services. In the meantime, the Utah Office of Tourism said it will act as a clearinghouse for updated information about the parks during the shutdown at http://www.visitutah.com/shutdown.

Mark Butterworth of Melbourne, Australia, came to the southwest to visit such parks as Zion and the Grand Canyon.

“It worked to our benefit,” he said, holding a camera and tripod in the Zion Lodge parking lot. “We are not paying entrance fees. Other than the toilet aspect, nothing has been impacted. …We have been fortunate that way.”

The park radio station that visitors can tune into as they enter Zion National Park said search-and-rescue operations would be severely delayed, warning visitors who might become stranded or need aid that response times could be slow.

But the park wasn’t completely unstaffed.

Park service employees were stationed at either end of the Zion tunnel during the day to allow large vehicles, such as a bus, to pass through. And two ranger vehicles could be seen doing patrols. One Zion National Park law enforcement officer declined to comment as he picked up his lunch in Springdale near the entrance to Zion.

Business owners in Springdale on the west side of the park said construction — most of the town’s main road is torn up with only one lane of traffic — probably had more of an effect on sales than the shutdown.

Yelena Sokolovskaya of Worthington Gallery said the National Park Service had sent local businesses an email detailing what was and was not open during the shutdown.

“I don’t think the shutdown has hurt much,” she said. “You can still access the park for free. January is the slowest time.”

Cynthia Martinez at the Majestic View Lodge offered similar sentiments.

She said guests were asking whether they could hike. Though business was slow, Martinez said there had been no cancellations due to the shutdown.

While most of Utah’s state parks remain open, visitors going to a federal park, wildlife refuge, or Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service facility may find them closed, not staffed and most services curtailed. Calling ahead is difficult because no one is staffing the phones and most websites are not being updated.

Even if campgrounds remain open, as is the case in some BLM areas, the restrooms will be locked in most cases and no water or trash pickup will be provided.

Law enforcement will continue at most federal facilities.

The bottom line is that visitor services will be severely curtailed during the shutdown. If trash builds up or resources begin to be damaged, some could be closed with little, if any, notice.

So travelers should expect the unexpected.

National parks: What’s open, what isn’t

• The National Park Service will not operate parks during the shutdown — no visitor services will be provided. The NPS will not issue permits, conduct interpretive or educational programs, collect trash, operate or provide restrooms, maintain roads or walkways (including plowing and ice melting), or provide visitor information. Park roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.

• As a general rule, if a facility or area is locked or secured during nonbusiness hours (buildings, gated parking lots, etc.) it should be locked or secured for the duration of the shutdown.

• If visitor access becomes a safety, health or resource protection issue (weather, road conditions, resource damage, garbage buildup to the extent that it endangers human health or wildlife, etc.), the area must be closed. Parks may not bring on additional staff to accommodate visitor access.

• The NPS will cease providing services for NPS-operated campgrounds, including maintenance, janitorial, bathrooms, showers, check-in/check-out and reservations. Visitors in campgrounds will not be asked to leave but should be advised that no services will be available. In addition, visitors holding campground reservations for a later date will be advised that the NPS is not operating campgrounds, including providing check-in/check-out services during a shutdown. There is no guarantee their reserved campsite will be ready and available should they arrive during a government shutdown.

• Park websites and social media will not be maintained. Parks will not provide regular road or trail condition updates. As a part of their shutdown activities, park staff will post signs notifying visitors that no visitor services, maintenance or other management activities will be conducted, and emergency and rescue services will be limited.

• At the superintendent’s discretion, parks may close grounds/areas with sensitive natural, cultural, historic, or archaeological resources vulnerable to destruction, looting, or other damage that cannot be adequately protected by the excepted law enforcement staff that remain on duty to conduct essential activities.

• At the superintendent’s discretion and with approval of the regional director or director, parks may enter into arrangements with local governments, cooperating associations, and/or other third parties for donation of specified visitor services. The NPS will not reimburse third parties (through payments, franchise fee relief or any other consideration) who provide such visitor services. If NPS staff conducts the work using funds from a third party, funds must be transferred and deposited before the NPS may continue or resume providing visitor services. The Washington office will provide template agreements. Agreements should not be established for a period of less than three days. Because a shutdown of park operations may take up to two days, parks should begin shutdown when the balance in the donation account falls below a two-day balance.

• In general, enforcement actions should be reactive rather than proactive. Parks should not take measures to keep visitors out of an area unless access presents a serious and imminent threat to human life, safety or health, or a serious and imminent threat to the condition of a sensitive natural or cultural resource.

• Access to leased concessionaire facilities is permitted.

• Visitors on outfitter or guided trips that have already commenced at the start of the shutdown will be allowed to complete their trip.

Source: Department of Interior