Death Valley National Park Shutdown: 5 Weeks Of Shit, Vandalism, Garbage, Illegal Offroading [View all]

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The documents refer repeatedly to trash and feces littering the park. They also describe numerous instances of vandalism and vehicles off-roading, doing damaging donuts in the fragile desert landscape. Some of the repairs may take days or weeks to fix, others may impact the park for generations. In the past, national parks were closed to visitors during extended government shutdowns, but not this time. The Trump administration decided to leave many parks open and largely unstaffed.

According to estimates from Abby Wines, who served as acting superintendent during most of the shutdown, at least 140 cubic yards of trash — equal to 20 tons — was collected from dumpsters across Death Valley National Park. But often, high winds carried garbage away that had spilled out from overflowing trash bins. Meanwhile, park employees, who were working without pay, recorded “1,665 clumps of used toilet paper and 429 piles of human feces” across the park during the shutdown. “Many more were cleaned without counting and undoubtedly many more were undetected by staff.”

Ultimately, over 1,000 pounds of human waste and toilet paper were removed from around the campgrounds and popular trailheads, Death Valley Superintendent Mike Reynolds told ThinkProgress. Combined with the trash that piled up, or was dispersed by wind and wildlife, Reynolds said, “these things do not happen normally and are not typical.”

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Reports of vandalism, meanwhile, continued to increase throughout the second week. The door of a women’s toilet was kicked in, and a locked restroom — “a historic structure built by the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps]” — in Texas Springs Campground was broken, and citations were issued for off road driving. On January 3, a road sign was pushed down near the Dantes View viewpoint near the south end of the park, government property was vandalized at the nearby Natural Bridge trailhead, and at Keane Wonder Mine, off road driving and camping occurred “in a culturally sensitive site with potential hazardous heavy metals in the soils.” All of these sites were closed the following day. All the while, visitation numbers continued to be “extremely high” and parking lots were at capacity. “The protection staff are getting tired,” Wines wrote on New Year’s Eve.

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https://thinkprogress.org/death-valley-national-park-shutdown-beeae102c9f1/