The announcement Friday by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner that he will retire in October could mean a delay in a possible shut down of the federal government. Predictions are that Congress will pass a CR [continuing resolution] as a stop-gap solution to keep funding the government into October.
A change in leadership requires time for both sides of the isle to work through strategy and procedure. In the meantime administrators of federally funded programs, including national parks, can expect to have their programs sustained a while longer. It may already be too late to convince tourist who have been planning to visit Utah's five national parks this fall to risk traveling to sites that could be closed without any advanced notice.
Theresa Pierno is with the non-profit advocacy group National Parks Conversation Association. On Monday the organization sent a letter to Congress outlining concerns that another closure of parks could mean as much as $42 million in visitor spending being lost each day.
“Congress should be preparing for the influx of visitors expected during the national parks’ 2016 centennial year,” Pierno said. “We urge a swift passage of a bipartisan continuing resolution, followed by a committed bipartisan effort to enact a budget deal that allows for a needed restoration of funding for the National Parks Service in Fiscal Year 2016.”
In 2013 failure to meet the federal budget deadline left states reeling from a loss of funding needed to keep national park operating. During the first ten days of the sixteen day shutdown it is estimated that Utah lost $3 million in potential tourism revenue as visitors were turned away from campgrounds, trails, visitor centers and other park services.
Utah lawmakers, including Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, met this week to announce the creation of an online tool to help legislators and citizens assess risk and prepare for situation that could result in a loss of federal revenue. Ivory recalls the time two years ago when legislators had to spend $2 million in state money to cover the cost of providing park services.
“The federal government then opened the national parks, they collected all the gate receipts and revenue and we still haven’t been paid back,” Ivory said.
Ivory plans to introduce legislation in January that could include action by Utah’s Attorney General to help recover the money. If there is a shutdown in 2015 there are policies in place that give Utah Governor Gary Herbert the ability to ask state lawmakers to cover the cost of opening parks without going through the federal government for approval.
