These visitors and adventurers depend directly on the federal government shutdown because that immediately robbed them of access to some historical and natural sites in New Mexico. But, citizenry was thinking of more political gridlocks at Washington, D.C., lacking a federal budget for months-to-be-approached after having been changed-from full optimism to such negative views again. Site was one in many, Bandelier National Monument, so resonant in an historical national context. Disappointment, the evoking of grave concern among park advocates regarding the safety and preservation of such treasured landscapes, now hangs in the air as visitors are turned away.
It includes Bandelier National Monument-33,000 plus rugged, canyon country and ancient Pueblo dwellings around Los Alamos of cherished Bandelier National Monument. Government has shutdown activity at the monument. For visitors arriving at the monument, it was an experience that suddenly took place. Unlike certain parks that provide certain access roads, reports from the area indicate that critical areas-main trails and historic cliff dwellings within Frijoles Canyon-have been completely shut down. These kinds of messages immediately spoiled the itinerary for some travelers who planned their trips weeks or months before traveling to New Mexico to: walk the Main Loop Trail, visit famous Alcove House.
National Park Service Response and Conservation Concerns
The immediate closure decision is part of broader contingency plans for the National Park Service throughout New Mexico and the nation. With probably as many as 14,500 employees furloughed throughout the United States in the NPS, complete absence of services has made necessities impossible; for instance, roads and trails in some areas have been kept open, but visitor centers, ranger stations, and public restrooms are all locked, leaving a significant risk to these sites and their visitors.
Past government shutdown veterans, including dozens of former superintendents of parks, warned federal officials not to try to keep parks open without employees, citing as evidence previous instances of vandalism to, accumulation of trash in, and compromise of visitor safety in such parks. Such a measure was taken to secure the culturally sensitive site, for example, Bandelier National Monument, to mitigate these threats, particularly against its irreplaceable historical resources, including the petroglyphs and ancient masonry walls, as well as protect them from potential damage and degradation.
Economic Strain on Local Communities
Closure effects extend beyond disappointment to neighbors; they inflict an immediate economic impact on communities heavily reliant on tourism. Towns like Los Alamos and White Rock in New Mexico’s protected lands find their economies dependent on the influx of travelers as they proceed into Bandelier National Monument, and into the neighboring Valles Caldera National Preserve. Overnight disappearance of federal park entrance fees and concession spending leads to immediate gut punches to commercial activities of local businesses, which include hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Each extra day the shutdown continues equals another day wherein earnings will not be earned by those small, often rural, economies, thus adding to the pressure on the federal government to intervene.
The very sudden closure of Bandelier National Monument offers a vivid, graphic manifestation of how gridlock at the federal level produces direct consequences with respect both to the culture of much of the United States itself and to the lives of its local communities. New Mexico’s parks are now hostages, along with the heritage provided by their ancient Pueblo ancestors, until Congress and the administration can figure out a budget deal-will those parks be available and fully sustained.
