Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Shutdown and out
Sarah Fries, of Royal Palm Beach, walks back to her car after reading a sign at the visitor center at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach. The park is still accessible despite the federal government shutdown, and only the visitor center and bathrooms are closed.
Despite the partial shutdown of the federal government, visitors still are enjoying the scenery at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge west of Boynton Beach.
The shutdown, which began Dec. 22, is among the longest on record. It has shuttered some parts of just about all federal parks in the U.S.
At this refuge in Palm Beach County, the bathrooms and visitor center are closed. But the trails, parking lots and observation tower remain open to the public.
Davidah Wolf, of Toronto, visited the park Monday with her friend Stacey Lichtman, of Greenacres.
“We wanted to plan a day out seeing nature, and here we are,” she said outside the visitor center.
“We knew from the news that the park would be open,” Wolf said. “We trusted it was open, but I guess we didn’t think about the visitor center being closed, so no pamphlets, we can’t take full advantage of the park.”
A sign on the glass doors of the visitor center reminded patrons that during the partial shutdown, “the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is unable to fully staff the properties under its management.”
Sarah Fries, of Royal Palm Beach, read the sign and seemed irritated as her husband and daughter watched from the family car sporting a rack with bicycles.
“This is crazy,” she said. “What are our tax dollars being used for?”
Still, she and husband, Dylan, and 1-year-old daughter, Piper, rode the trail on their bikes.
On this chamber-ofcommerce weather day, dozens of other visitors walked the trails and took pictures of alligators, wading birds and other animals at the refuge.
Of course, nature calls in other ways, too.
Around the locked building that holds the usually public restrooms, paper litters the ground and there is a noticeable odor.
“No bathrooms,” said Wolf. “I guess I’ll just have to make do. I guess there will be a lot of paper around when they finally come back.”
Typically, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employees provide timely updates of refuge activities on its website. “Due to the lapse in federal appropriations, this website will not be updated until further notice,” a message says in part.