Volunteers, states try to fill the void
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign are paying $2,000 a day to keep the park open during the federal government shutdown.
When a storm blew down trees in the park last week, volunteers and a local contractor showed up to clear the debris. And Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the city passed a resolution Wednesday to make up the funding when the friends fall short.
Across the country, cities, states, private agencies and volunteers are trying to fill the void created by the shutdown — with little certainty of reimbursement.
In the Redwoods national and state parks of Northern California, the state Department of Parks and Recreation has paid for the restrooms to be cleaned and for trash removal.
In New York, the state is paying $65,000 a day to operate the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island.
“We’re watching government at its worst in Washington,” Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told radio station 1010 WINS. “The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of America at her best.”
The Utah Office of Tourism, meanwhile, is providing money to staff visitor centers and to continue custodial services at Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks.
In the past, some state spending during shutdowns has been repaid, but only in part, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.
During the 2013 shutdown, Utah paid almost $1.7 million to keep five national parks open, according to a Pew report last year. The federal government repaid only about $666,000.
But the states, cities and volunteers can’t do everything.
In Washington on Wednesday, as city garbage trucks collected trash on the national mall, rubbish overflowed from cans within sight of the White House. The city is collecting trash at the National Park Service’s 126 properties in Washington and will treat and clear Park Service roadways during bad weather.
In Philadelphia, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell Center closed again Monday after the city tourism agency’s donation of $32,000 to keep the sites running for three days ran out. Visitors must now view the Liberty Bell through a window.
Cara Schneider, a spokeswoman for the tourism agency Visit Philadelphia, said the organization did not expect to be repaid.
The strain of the shutdown is perhaps felt most in smaller towns like Vicksburg, the site of a sevenweek siege of Confederate forces by the Union army in 1863. The Confederate surrender was a major Union victory.
The 1,800-acre national park and museum there has become a big tourist destination and revenue driver for the economy.
The park is the largest tourist attraction in Mississippi, with more than 500,000 visitors a year, said Bess Averett, executive director of the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, the park’s nonprofit partner. Thousands visit via riverboat tours on the Mississippi.
Since the shutdown began, four riverboats have stopped in Vicksburg, each carrying about 400 guests who “have been able to see the park that would not have been able to otherwise,” Averett said. “There’s really no higher priority project we could take on than keeping the gates open.”