Trump Administration forced Joshua Tree to stay open amid last shutdown: report
As another government shutdown looms bringing the possibility of the closure of our nation’s parks, a new report claims that the Trump Administration forced one Southern California National Park to stay open during the last shutdown, despite “chaos and destruction” to the park’s delicate ecosystem.
The report, published by the Guardian, cites emails exchanged between National Park officials, including David Smith, superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park, during the 2018-19 government shutdown.
The emails, which were obtained through a public records request, detail how then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt allegedly overruled park leadership to keep Joshua Tree open, despite a staff of only nine people working and National Park officials previously granting permission to close if visitor safety was at risk.
After the government shutdown began and prior to the Smith’s decision to close the park, Joshua Tree experienced a holiday rush, with visitors taking advantage of the park’s skeleton crew of staff members.
“Tire tracks wove through the wilderness mapping a path of destruction where rare plants had been crushed and trees toppled. Charred remains of illegal campfires dotted the desert, and historic cultural artifacts had been plundered,” writes Gabrielle Canon of the Guardian.
The park experienced two rescues that required helicopter assistance, and multiple reports of rowdy visitors refusing to listen to the direction of park staff because they believed they could do whatever they wanted while the government was shut down.
Damage to the park during the record-breaking 35-day shutdown was described as “irreversible.”
Staff at Joshua Tree said they were overburdened and exhausted during the shutdown, which led to Smith informing his superiors that campgrounds and a recreation area of the park would be closing at the start of the new year.
Days after the decision was made to close part of the park, Bernhardt apparently intervened and issued a memorandum to the National Park Service instructing them to use funds typically reserved for maintenance and improvement projects to keep parks open, “until such funds have reached zero balance,” the Guardian reports.
Despite the new order from the Trump-appointed Secretary, Smith continued with his plan to close Joshua Tree, expanding it to the entire park. His supervisor, then-deputy regional director Sarah Creachbaum apologized for the damage and destruction and voiced her support in the decision to close. But days later, she would resign from her post, according to the report.
Bernhardt then set up a call with Smith to officially order him to keep the park open, emails allege. Joshua Tree ended up staying open in the wake of unprecedented damage and with its continued low level of staffing until the shutdown came to an end more than two weeks later.
Bernhardt’s decision to use funds from a different source came under fire over questions about legality and transparency, with some arguing that the funds were misused in order to “obfuscate the real costs of the shutdown.”
More than three years later, the Federal Government is now looking at the possibility of another shutdown.
According to the Guardian, the National Park Service was supposed to submit contingency plans in the event of a shutdown, but it’s unclear if one was submitted and whether or not National Parks will remain open if the government grinds to a halt on Oct. 1.
To read the entire report by the Guardian, click here.
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