A retired National Park Service ranger discovered white spray-paint graffiti last week along the Devils Garden Trail in Arches National Park, where, like other parks across the country, staffing remains limited during the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Moab resident Allyson Mathis said she found the vandalism Nov. 5 while hiking with a friend.
“Approaching Landscape Arch, not quite there, I look up high on the right, and there was some bright white writing that was obvious to me, brand new,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe it, because it was a lot of graffiti … my heart sank.”
Mathis said the paint appeared fresh, likely applied after the last rainfall in late October. The markings were visible from the trail across from the arch, in the Devils Garden area — one of the park’s most heavily visited sections. She also noticed toilet paper scattered nearby and a dog on the trail, which is prohibited on all trails in Arches.
Mathis, who worked as a ranger at Canyonlands National Park from 1991 to 1993 and later at Capitol Reef and Grand Canyon national parks, said graffiti made with paint is unusual in southeastern Utah.
“Most of the graffiti is very light scratching, and you can remove that really easy,” she said. “But paint graffiti is unusual — and a lot of paint graffiti, and there was quite a bit of it, is really unusual.”
According to National Park Service preservation guidance, spray paint is typically harder to remove from sandstone than light scratching because it can penetrate the rock’s porous surface and leave visible stains even after cleaning. The agency recommends that paint removal be handled by specialists using controlled solvents or restoration techniques to avoid damaging the stone.
Utah’s “Mighty Five” national parks have remained open during the shutdown, which reached Day 41 on Monday, but with limited services and staffing. The state of Utah has provided partial funding to help maintain basic operations such as visitor access, restrooms and road maintenance.
According to the Utah Office of Tourism, the state stepped in at the start of the shutdown to “ensure continued access” to its national parks, recognizing their economic importance to gateway communities. Even with that support, most parks are operating with fewer rangers and reduced services, leaving resource protection and maintenance work largely on hold until the shutdown ends.
Southeast Utah Group spokesperson Karen Henker has not been allowed to work during the shutdown.
Mathis said she has not seen rangers on recent visits and believes the lack of patrols may contribute to resource damage. “I have a feeling that people know this and probably feel emboldened in a way that they wouldn’t if they saw rangers patrolling the road or out on the trails.”
Mathis said the vandalism reflects broader effects of the prolonged work stoppage.
“All that’s happening right now are people going in the parks and they’re enjoying it, but there’s none of this preservation,” she said. “The mission of the National Park Service is to preserve parks unimpaired for the benefit of future generations, while providing for enjoyment today. None of that preservation is happening right now.”
She said fall is typically an active field season for natural- and cultural-resource work, including ecological monitoring and invasive-plant control.
“They’ve lost a whole fall’s worth of field work,” she said. “The cultural resources aren’t being monitored, and crews that take care of invasive plants haven’t been able to work.”
Mathis said she supports temporarily closing national parks during extended shutdowns until staff can return.
“I would have shut the parks down,” she said. “I understand how vulnerable the park resources are when they’re not being managed. And the other part of it is the visitors aren’t having the full experience that they should be having.”As of the afternoon of Nov. 10, Senate leaders said they had reached a preliminary agreement to end the shutdown, according to the New York Times.
The Senate voted 60–40 to advance the deal on Sunday, Nov. 9, but it still must pass both chambers of Congress before it can be signed by President Trump and the government can reopen.