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fomofmal
operations
ark returns.
By LOU HATTER
Visitors to Shenandoah National Park last weekend were delighted when they found they didn’t have to pay admission, but were less pleased when they discovered that the park’s interpretive programs had also been cancelled by the shutdown of the Federal government.
With Federal government operations across the country suspended at midnight, Friday, Oct. 5 by the failure of the Congress to pass a budget package and continuing resolution, park officials began the process <)f shutting down operations on Saturday morning, according to Alexander “Sandy” Rives, the park’s management assistant. . »
On Saturday, he said, all “non-essential” personnel were told not to report to work. That left visitors’ centers and entrance stations unmanned, campgrounds closed, bathrooms locked and trash containers overflowing.
About 12 rangers with law enforcement powers remained on duty through the weekend to assure the safety and well-being of the thousands who flocked to the park after being shut out of most of the tourist attractions in Washington, D.C.
The rangers were “essential personnel,” he explained. “You can’t have 25-30,000 people in the park without someone there to protect property, health and safety ... It’s essentially a small city up there.”
Mr. Rives said he had no firm figures on the number of visitors over the Columbus Day holiday weekend, but based on past experience and the reports of the rangers on duty, he estimated “about 25,000 vehicles” passed through the park last weekend. “The rangers said it was very busy.” !
See PARK, p. A-8
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