Shutdown means furloughs, limited services for federal public land agencies

A federal government shutdown began Wednesday morning, prompting furloughs and plans for scaling back operations at federal land management agencies until Congress can agree on a spending plan.

Employees at the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spent a half-day Wednesday performing an “orderly shutdown,” according to the agencies’ contingency plans for a lapse in federal appropriations.

Plans for the Forest Service indicate that the agency expected to furlough more than 12,000 of its roughly 32,000 employees. Contingency plans for the Department of the Interior indicate the National Park Service will furlough close to 9,300 employees. At the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it is about 4,600 employees, and there are another 4,000 furloughs looming at the Bureau of Land Management.

Some employees whose jobs include services deemed essential will keep working. That includes law enforcement, emergency services, firefighting and caring for animals. The Forest Service plans say timber sales could be paused, but also that work meant to implement the Trump Administration’s executive order on maximizing timber production would continue.

It appears recreational access will continue in many places, but some services will be limited.

The National Park Service has indicated that it will leave parks as open as possible. The agency’s plan says parks’ “roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials will generally remain accessible to visitors.”

Some National Park Service sites are reaching the end of their recreation season and were already shuttering some operations for the year. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is one such site – it typically starts closing visitor centers and some other facilities in early October. That site is still without a superintendent.

At Turnbull National Wildlfie Refuge, the visitor center and main office will be closed to the public but all roads and trails will stay open, according to Josh Contois, a ranger at Turnbull. He added that the same will be true at the Kootenai and Little Pend Oreille refuges.

The Forest Service’s plans in Northeast Washington and North Idaho were not immediately clear, as agency officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment. The agency’s nationwide guidance signaled that it expects to close or reduce public access to recreation sites and other facilities across the country, but that the decisions will be made on a “case-by-case basis.”

The BLM’s plans are also unclear. One official in North Idaho declined to comment. The agency’s plan says it will “keep open as many public lands and public facilities as possible,” including campgrounds, boat ramps and other sites.

But the plan acknowledges that services might be limited – including the possibility of closing restrooms and water systems.

Reservations for campsites and other facilities made through Recreation.gov – a one-stop shop for reserving stays at campgrounds and cabins across multiple federal agencies – might not be honored, according to the BLM’s plan. It urges people to contact local offices about their reservations, and says any refunds will be considered and processed after the government reopens.

The length of the shutdown depends on Congress and the president finding agreement on funding the government. The last government shutdown happened during the winter of 2018 and 2019, and it lasted 35 days.

National parks stayed open to the public during that time, though they were largely unstaffed. The National Parks Conservation Association has raised concerns this week that the impacts of that shutdown – which included vandalism, trash and human waste overflow and damage to cultural sites and natural features – could be repeated this time around.

Theresa Pierno, president of NPCA, said in a statement that by shutting down the government puts parks at risk.

“Visitors may enter, but very few staff will be there to protect the parks or the people inside,” Pierno said. “It’s not just irresponsible, it’s dangerous.”