Human feces, overflowing¹ garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the West's iconic national parks, as a partial government shutdown left the areas open to visitors but with little staff on duty.

 

美国西部一些标志性的国家公园正在遭随地大小便、乱扔垃圾、非法越野驾驶、和其他一些破坏生态环境脆弱地区行为的“吞噬”，这是由于美国联邦政府多个机构“关门”，这些国家公园仍然对游客开放，但管理员却严重不足。
 

 

"It's a free-for-all," Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, said by telephone Monday, as Yosemite National Park officials announced closings of some minimally² supervised campgrounds and public areas within the park that are overwhelmed.

 

"It's so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I've seen in my four years living here," Snider said.

 

The partial federal government shutdown, now into its 11th day, has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees. This has left many parks without most of the rangers³ and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running.

 

Unlike shutdowns in some previous administrations, the Trump⁴ administration was leaving parks open to visitors despite the staff furloughs, said John Garder, senior budget director of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.

 

"We're afraid that we're going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artifacts," Garder said. "We're concerned there'll be impacts to visitors' safety."

 

"It's really a nightmare scenario," Garder said.

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