San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Bay Area sites caught in government closure
William Jones and his companion planned their joint crabbing trip two weeks ago, and the shuttered gates at the pier at Aquatic Park didn’t stop them from casting their nets into the water at the San Francisco Maritime National Park on Saturday morning.
Within 20 minutes, they were spotted by U.S. Park Police and cited for trespassing.
The partial shutdown of the federal government caused confusion Saturday throughout the Bay Area, with some national parks and tourist attractions staying open while others closed entirely.
Jones, a Dixon resident, and his friend had pushed green, circular hoop nets and rope through the narrow slit of the gate to the pier, and managed to climb around the gate sometime before 10 a.m., despite signs stating the area was closed “because of a lapse in federal appropriations.”
The pair tied pieces of fresh turkey to the inner cage of the nets, tossed them off the side of the pier, and caught one lone crab before they were told to leave.
“I had heard something about how the shutdown might happen, but it wasn’t a sure thing when I heard about it,” Jones said while shoving the still-wet nets into the trunk of his car. “Nobody really knew what it was going to affect, you know?”
Joggers and pedestrians watched as Jones and his friend hauled white buckets bursting with rope and the nets back to the car.
“It looked like we were going to get some nice crabs today, but we only got one,” he said with a chuckle, plunging his forearm into a bucket and pulling out a crab flexing its pinchers. “We’re gonna go find another place to crab.”
The National Park Service released a contingency plan and said that while most parks will still be accessible, the visitor centers, restrooms and campsites will be closed and trash collection and road maintenance halted.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., tweeted Saturday that President Trump should reopen the government.
“This is the third federal government shutdown of Trump’s presidency,” she said. “It will have real, tangible consequences for families across the country as we head into the holiday season and the New Year.”
Many sites in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area remained accessible, including Muir Woods in Marin County, according to the National Park Service.
The John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez and the Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site in Danville were also open. Daytime tours to Alcatraz Island were not affected by the shutdown. The night and behindthe-scenes tours were canceled, however, and will remain that way until the shutdown is lifted.
The Presidio, Baker Beach, Ocean Beach and Lands End were open. Trash cans will be emptied, and restrooms will be open at Crissy Field.
Yosemite National Park was open, including lodging, dining and the Yosemite Valley shuttle. The visitor centers, bathrooms and other park services were closed, the agency said.
Lauren Hernandez and Sarah Ravani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lauren. hernandez@sfchronicle. com, sravani@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavor, @SarRavani