National Parks Face Closure By Weekend Due To Budget Battle

Washington’s national parks, already limping along because of the partial government shutdown, will be closed entirely by the end of the week, the National Park Service said Wednesday.

Nationwide, virtually all the parks will be closed by Friday afternoon, the service said, and all visitors were being asked to leave.

Campgrounds and concession operations at Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks in Washington remained open after Congress and President Clinton failed to reach agreement on a new federal budget Monday night. But visitor centers, museums and some roads were closed.

Under the new directive, privately run concession operations also are to close, including the National Park Inn at Mount Rainier and Kalaloch Lodge and Lake Crescent Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula.

At Kalaloch Lodge on the Pacific coast, general manager Brad Barker said late Wednesday afternoon that the lodge’s operator, Aramark, had not been notified yet that the hotel and restaurant were to close. The lodge fronts U.S. 101, and “there would be absolutely no actual reason for us to shut down other than their (the Park Service) making a point.”

While remaining park roads will be closed, the Park Service said through highways such as U.S. 101 will remain open.

U.S. Forest Service lands, including the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, remain open, since they are funded differently.