Skeleton crew of rangers still patrols Joshua Tree National Park despite government shutdown

After a week of a partial federal government shutdown, Joshua Tree National Park's campsites and parking lots are buzzing with visitors who haven't had to pay the normal entrance fee.

But while the park's website says employees are not on duty to provide normal park services, a small group of rangers was circulating around the park Friday, enforcing the laws meant to keep the park's visitors and resources safe.

On Friday afternoon, two marked National Park Service law enforcement vehicles drove by Hidden Valley Campground, the popular and bustling site for camping and climbing.

Just past the parking lot, a red convertible had pulled off the road and into the dirt, just a few feet away from a picturesque Joshua Tree. A woman posed in front of the car and the Joshua Tree with desert mountains in the background.

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The two National Park Service law enforcement vehicles stopped across the road and turned on their emergency lights. As the couple scurried to abandon their photo shoot, a ranger got out of the vehicle, walked across the road and began writing them a ticket.

Park Ranger Dylan Moe, who was in the other vehicle, said there are only a few rangers circulating the park to make sure visitors know the rules are being enforced.

“People think that the laws aren’t being enforced, but we don’t have our hands tied like that,” he said referring to the law enforcement rangers. “Visitation is up, it’s one of the busiest times of the year. Usually, we would have staff at the trail and at the visitor’s center, but that’s not possible right now.”

When the other ranger was finished writing the ticket, the two service vehicles drove off.

After President Trump decided against signing a temporary measure to keep federal funds flowing, the Department of Interior, the agency that manages the National Park Service, was one of nine federal departments that sent staff home on Dec. 22.

“During the federal government shutdown, Joshua Tree will remain open," Joshua Tree National Park’s website said. "Campgrounds and vault toilets will remain open. All other services will be closed. In an emergency, call 911.”

The booth at the Joshua Tree entrance, where visitors would normally stop to pay the park's $30 entry fee, was shuttered and the bathrooms nearby were locked.

But inside the park at many of the bathrooms near parking lots and campgrounds, the bathrooms were clean and the trash cans were empty and had fresh trash bags.

The park's administrative staff did not return phone calls to ask about the rangers that are circulating the park or how the bathrooms are being cleaned – their outgoing voicmail message said they would return calls when the park is again fully operational.

Chris Pfrlanger, co-owner of the Coyote Corner gift shop located near the park's entrance, said local volunteers have been cleaning the bathrooms and taking out the park's trash.

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Pfranger said the volunteers are working hard, but the volume of visitors is immense. She placed three portable bathrooms in the parking lot of the gift shop, preparing for things to get "hectic," Pfranger said.

On the other hand, visitors are not letting the understaffed park's lack of services ruin their vacations.

Whitney Freedman filled up a plastic gallon jug with water from a hose at Coyote Corner. Freedman said he had been camping in the Desert Queen Mine area, in a place where he said rangers would have normally told him to leave.

“I got out there at 3 a.m. and pirate-camped under a rock," Freedman said. "There’s less congestion at the entrance, which is nice. Some good Samaritan put some two-ply in one of the toilets, usually the park stocks the bathrooms with that sandpaper stuff.”

But while the bathrooms seemed to be in good condition on Friday afternoon, and traffic was light as cars flowed unstopped through the entrance gate, parking was another story.

At the Hidden Valley Campground cars were parked just about anywhere and everywhere they could fit. Greg Littlehales traveled from Oakland to camp in the park and go climbing, he said. Visitors didn't cause problems, he said, but the cars have been crazy.

"Joshua Tree is like the center of the world for winter climibing," Littlehales said. "When the park is operating normally, they can monitor how many people are coming in. The traffic at the entry gates can normally act like a deterrent, but right now it's just crazy. The quantity of cars is overwhelming."

Correction: An earlier version of this article contained a mispelled name.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Skeleton crew of rangers still patrols Joshua Tree National Park despite government shutdown