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Government shutdown: Do national parks really need to be barricaded?

Some Americans see the closure of national parks as politically motivated, but others say keeping the areas open during the government shutdown invites liability problems. For many, the parks strike a chord.

As the last campers were being ushered out of Yosemite National Park on Thursday, some Americans were protesting what they see as the unnecessary barricading of the public鈥檚 wild lands because of the government shutdown.

That shutdown, now in its third day, has closed hundreds of national park areas as well as facilities such as boat ramps and campgrounds in federal forests like Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in Georgia.

But from Washington, D.C., to Wisconsin and from Colorado to Tennessee, some Americans are chafing against what they believe are politically motivated closures aimed at pinching people where it hurts and reminding them about the importance of a strong central government. To critics, the question is: If the government is of, by, and for the people, then shouldn鈥檛 they be able to walk on federal property unhindered, no matter what the politics of the moment in Washington?

The explanation from officials is simple: Without agents able to patrol, keeping the areas open invites liability problems. What鈥檚 more, the National Park Service鈥檚 mission is to aggressively protect America鈥檚 natural treasures, which have now been left unattended by the furloughs.

鈥淥ur parks aren鈥檛 just Yosemite or the Grand Canyon, but the Park Service is literally the keeper of America: They protect and interpret and deal with all of that symbolism, including the places where presidents were, battlefields 鈥� all these things that symbolize us at our best and our worst,鈥� says John Freemuth, a former park ranger who鈥檚 now a political scientist at Boise State University in Idaho and author of 鈥淚slands Under Siege: National Parks and the Politics of External Threats.鈥�

But that explanation doesn鈥檛 go far enough for many Americans, who are documenting closures of facilities that may be on federal land, but are not managed by federal employees.

One case in point is the Claude Moore Colonial Farm in Virginia, which said Wednesday it鈥檚 been ordered closed by the National Park Service even though it鈥檚 not managed or staffed by federal rangers.

鈥淵ou do have to wonder about the wisdom of an organization that would use staff they don鈥檛 have the money to pay to evict visitors from a park site that operates without costing them any money,鈥� Anna Eberly, the managing director of the farm, told the Washington Free Beacon newspaper.

To be sure, the extent to which the Feds have the power to shut down public lands is a massive gray area deeply infused with politics that goes back to the Nixon administration鈥檚 鈥淲ashington Monument strategy.鈥� At the time, some speculated that the decision to close the memorial had more to do with playing up the consequences of budget cuts than actual necessity.

鈥淭o block access is ... a deliberate, senseless, and mean-spirited act that demonstrates quite clearly the political goals of the Obama administration during this shutdown,鈥� writes author Robert Zimmerman on the 鈥淏ehind the Black鈥� blog. 鈥淭he administration has decided it will use its power to do as much harm as possible to the American people as it can, with the hope that this harm will cause the public to rise up and throw the Republicans out for refusing to pass the budget that Obama wanted and demanded.鈥�

That idea 鈥� is the federal government, in other words, holding the people鈥檚 property hostage for political gain? 鈥� has taken hold among some Americans.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to play a game with us to say, 鈥極h, you can鈥檛 see the monuments?鈥� That鈥檚 ridiculous, they鈥檙e doing it because they just aren鈥檛 serious about this. They like the shutdown,鈥� Sen. Rand Paul (R) of Kentucky said on Fox News Wednesday.

With the widely covered closing of Yosemite and the decision to pull back barricades so military veterans could attend closed monuments on the National Mall, Rep. Doc Hastings (R) of Washington, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, warned National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis to expect an investigation into the service鈥檚 handling of the closings.

鈥淭he Committee is ... considering conducting an oversight hearing in the near future to better understand the Park Service鈥檚 closures, as well as the resources and staff time used to erect physical barriers to keep out veterans and other members of the American public from visiting these open-air sites,鈥� Representative Hastings wrote on Wednesday.

Led by Rep. Mike Simpson (R) of Idaho, the House passed one bill on Wednesday that would authorize funding the National Park Service through the shutdown, but it鈥檚 not clear whether that idea will gain traction more widely on the Hill.

In Wisconsin, meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker (R) pushed back against the federal closure demands. State officials removed federal barricades at a boat launch at Wyalusing State Park on the Mississippi River Wednesday, citing a 1961 agreement that said the state has legal authority to operate the launch.

But those who have worked closely with the National Park Service in the past say that officials have little choice but to barricade vast tracts of federal parks, trails, and boat ramps, despite the symbolism that Professor Freemuth says 鈥渃uts deep鈥� for many Americans.

鈥淚f I were a lawyer for the Park Service, I鈥檇 advise it in no uncertain terms to close the parks to the public during the government shutdown, because it would be irresponsible to do otherwise,鈥� writes Richard Seamon, a University of Idaho law professor who previously advised the National Park Service as an assistant to the solicitor general in the US Department of Justice, in an e-mail. If parks remain open, 鈥渢here are bound to be accidents or crimes that would have been avoided or ameliorated had officials been on duty to respond or patrol.鈥� Leaving the parks open, he adds, 鈥渨ould be a veritable open season for criminals.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 sure some folks believe that President Obama or his appointees are shutting down popular government facilities to inspire resentment against Republicans,鈥� he continues. 鈥淚鈥檓 just as sure this is not happening. Government officials are just following rules laid down from past shut-downs and threats thereof. It all happens rather automatically, in accordance with detailed plans that are dusted off and put into operation during unfortunate periods like this one.鈥�

Nevertheless, for some, the closings raise nothing less than existential questions.聽 Noting Wallace Stegner鈥檚 view of wild public lands as 鈥減art of the geography of hope,鈥� Kenneth Brower suggested in National Geographic that the 鈥渘ational parks hold the landscapes that formed us as Americans. He went on, 鈥淐an there be a connection between the partisan hostility of the moment, the governmental paralysis, and our loss of contact with those roots? Is it possible we were not meant to live like canned sardines?鈥�

Part of the hubbub around the closings is that for many, the idea of the federal government blocking access to public lands falls into a deeply gray area, says Dale Goble, whose research specialty is around the sagebrush rebellions where Western states try to grab, if only symbolically, federal lands.

鈥淎nyplace that you have to pay to have access to I presume they can shut down,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut although they do own the public lands, as a general matter, it鈥檚 just sort of assumed that you can wander around on them, and it seems like it would be difficult to close public lands given the number of access points.鈥�

Indeed, park officials are aware that their efforts to close off public lands can go only so far, says Freemuth, the former park ranger. Chances of getting arrested for breaching barricades appear to be minuscule, even though Mr. Zimmerman reported in his blog that hikers in the Great Smoky Mountains were ducking out of the way of rangers shutting down a trailhead Wednesday.

鈥淚f you go out to Glen Canyon, there鈥檚 plenty of places you can just wander in and you鈥檙e fine,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the Park Service is going to arrest somebody for walking into Coyote Gulch up there.鈥�