Trump DOI Weighs Keeping Natl Parks Open Even If Government Shuts Down

"As a Friday deadline for a government shutdown approached, the Trump administration began setting plans in motion to halt scores of federal functions — even as it scrambled to keep hundreds of national parks and monuments open to the public to minimize anger over the disruption of services.

With government funding set to expire at midnight Friday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was still working out details of a plan to permit the parks to function without rangers or other staff on site. With many parks in peak season, drawing thousands of visitors, the lack of finality was causing wide confusion across the park system. Officials from three sites said Thursday they were unsure how to proceed.

“We don’t have a plan yet,” said Abby Wines, spokeswoman for Death Valley National Park in California, which is seeing 80,000 visitors a month. “We just got a memo about this yesterday. Today’s the first day we’re seriously thinking about this.”"

Lisa Rein and Juliet Eilperin report for the Washington Post January 18, 2018.