Published on : Thursday, January 10, 2019
Officilas stated that the US National Park will be shut from 8 am and they intend to restore accessibility to the park apart from the limited basic services in the coming days.
After some visitors created new roads in the park and damaged the park’s namesake trees in the process instead of using marked trails.
Sanitation issues like overflowing rubbish bins and vault toilets on the brink of capacity due to lack of staff during the ongoing partial US government budget shutdown which is now in its 19th day.
The national park employees were affected due to the shut down that cut off federal workers’ pay this week.
Earlier on January 2 the above issues had prompted the park to close campsites and with rangers on hand visitors entered the park without paying the fee.
George land , National Park Service spokesman said that the decision to temporarily close the park was made at national level.
To address the immediate maintenance and sanitation issues the park officials are identifying the additional staff and resources. The funds will be utilized from the park fees to address the issues according to the recently updated National Park Service contingency plan during a lapse in appropriations.
To mitigate any negative impact to the local economy the park officials will restore visitor access to the park as quickly and the communities near Joshua Tree National Park provided significant assistance.
Even though many who visited the Joshua Tree National Park were responsible there were incidents of created by motorists and destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that precipitated the closure.
The park will be patrolled by the law enforcement rangers enforcing the closure until the park staff complete the necessary cleanup and park protection measures.
Camping reservations booked through Recreation.gov over the next couple of days will be eligible for a full refund.