The Trump administration orders national parks to stay open

The Trump administration has made a prescription demanding that all national parks remain open in the midst of severe staff shortages – an action that a conservation group called “Reckless and Fracking” as park staff for millions of visitors this summer.

“This order is intended to guarantee that all national parks and national historical sites, which are managed by the Ministry of the Interior (Department), remain open and accessible for the benefit and pleasure of the American people and to ensure that the National Park Service (NPS) will offer the best customer service experience to all visitors”, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a Thursday.

The mandate requires that any closure or reduction of hours on the Park’s sites be examined for the first time by the director of the National Park Service and the deputy secretary for fish and fauna and parks for approval.

The order has raised immediate concerns for Kristen Brengel, main vice-president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Assn. In a statement, Brengel described the order “another attempt at the administration to put the touch of the expertise of the dedicated personnel of the park”.

The association said that all decisions to close the park sites are determined by staff levels, weather and maintenance needs. Obligning civil servants to obtain approval before the discovery of services would create an unnecessary bureaucracy network for those who know the parks best.

“It is microgestion at its worst, creating more administrative formalities when park staff are already dangerously stretched and dealing with the season of advanced visits,” said Brengel. “This order is reckless and disconnected.”

National Park Service declared a record summit of more than 331 million visitors last year to 433 individual park units and 63 national parks, notes the directive. But the order comes after President Trump reduced approximately 1,000 employees of the National Park Service this year, with several hundred others who have taken off.

These discounts have put the popular federal agency – in charge of the management of beloved Californian sites of the National Leisure area of ​​Golden Gate in Joshua Tree and Yosemite National Parks – with very low staff who will make the two visitors extremely difficult and maintain the parks. The cuts could mean that fewer workers will be available to collect entry fees, clean toilets or aid for research and rescue operations.

Insurance. Of National Park Rangers has warned that more cuts are possible and the hamstrings will be more the hamstrings of the capacity of the service to protect land and ensure that they remain accessible to everyone.

“Despite the value and the advantages granted to the Americans by national parks (workers) are systematically deprived of their capacities to respect their mission,” said the president of the association Rick Mossman in a March press release.