The National Park Service will take the unprecedented step of tapping entrance fees to pay for expanded operations at its most popular sites, officials said Sunday, as the federal government shutdown threatens to degrade some of the nation’s iconic landmarks.
Under an order signed Saturday by the Interior Department’s Acting Secretary David Bernhardt and obtained by The Washington Post, park managers will be permitted to bring on additional staff to clean restrooms, haul trash, patrol the parks and open areas that have been shut during the more than two-week budget impasse. In a statement Sunday, National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith acknowledged that the administration’s practice of keeping parks open but understaffed has become unsustainable at some of its most beloved sites.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2019/01/06/park-service-takes-extraordinary-step-dipping-into-entrance-fees-bolster-operations-popular-sites/
Comments