Majority of national parks will close and Fat Bear Week will be canceled if government shuts down
If Congress does not meet its impending Saturday deadline to pass legislation to keep the government open, there will be a government shutdown. And national parks will close, too.
The Department of the Interior released a statement Friday saying “in the event of a lapse in annual government appropriations, National Park Service (NPS) sites will be closed.”
“This means that the majority of national parks will be closed completely to public access,” the statement continued. “Areas that, by their nature, are physically accessible to the public will face significantly reduced visitor services.”
Due to the parks shutting down, “thousands of park rangers will be furloughed” and “the public will be encouraged not to visit sites during the period of lapse in appropriations.”
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Utah and Arizona are among the states who have said they will keep national parks open if the impending shutdown occurs.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said state funds will be used to keep the states’ national parks open, which include Grand Canyon, Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands, according to The Associated Press.
Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. John Curtis are sponsoring legislation that would require the Secretary of the Interior to pay states back for what they spend to operate national parks during a government shutdown.
Other states have looked into what to do with national parks in their states.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was reportedly reviewing what the impact of closing national parks like Mount Rushmore would be in her state. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis “issued an executive order Thursday directing the state’s Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan for continued operations and the resource protection of Colorado’s national parks,” per The Associated Press.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee does not plan to fund Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks in the event of a shutdown and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has not announced plans to keep Yellowstone or Glacier national parks open. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is waiting “more information from Interior and White House officials to better understand the state’s options” and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration said the state isn’t planning on keeping national parks open, The Associated Press reported.
What does the closing of national parks mean?
This means national parks like Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Redwood, Mount Rainier and, potentially, Yellowstone, may not be open come next week. The National Park Service operates 63 national parks and “hundreds of additional monuments and sites” that would be impacted by a government shutdown, The Hill reported.
“If a shutdown occurs, national park amenities including visitor centers, campgrounds, research facilities, museums and other facilities would be forced to close as well,” the National Parks Conservation Association said. “Educational programs, ranger hikes and service events would be canceled.”
The closing of national parks would also mean a loss of revenue.
“We estimate that for every day of a shutdown this October, the Park Service would lose as much as $1 million per day in lost fee revenue,” while also potentially incurring additional costs due to any maintenance and cleanup that may have to be done after the shutdown ends, the National Parks Conservation Association said.
In the case of a government shutdown, not only will national parks close, the annual Fat Bear Week will likely be canceled.
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Will Fat Bear week 2023 be canceled?
Fat Bear Week was scheduled to start on Wednesday. It’s an annual event where the public votes on which bears at Katmai National Park in Alaska are the fattest as the bears prepare for hibernation.
“The bears will continue to get fat. We will not be able to report on their progress in that regard. All of our websites will be unavailable during any period of lapse and that is another unfortunate consequence of the shutdown. Fat Bear Week is one of the most popular programs from the NPS every year,” a senior official told CNN.
Yeah, I’m into fitness. Fitness whole salmon in my mouth.
Do you like to eat & sleep? Then get hyperphagic (insatiable hunger) & follow the @KatmaiNPS bear diet.
1: Gorge on raw salmon for one hour.
2: Sleep on a beach for two to three hours.
3: Repeat. pic.twitter.com/gWh4NENqge— National Park Service (@NatlParkService) September 28, 2023
“Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 and has became a staple for fans of Katmai National Park and Preserve’s corpulent bruins,” Anchorage Daily News reported. “Using live bear cams, viewers can watch the chunky carnivores chow down on sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls. During the event, people vote on their favorite bears in a tournament-style bracket.”
In 2022, Fat Bear 747 was announced as the winner. He “is likely one of the fattest brown bears on Earth, weighing in at 1,400 pounds.”
