Joshua Tree National Park in California, due to shut down on Thursday due to the "shutdown", will finally remain open to the public as emergency funds have been made available to address hygiene and maintenance issues resulting from partial paralysis. federal administrations. On Tuesday, officials of the famous Western American Nature Park (more than 2.8 million visitors in 2017) announced the temporary closure of Joshua Tree, delivered in chaos for three weeks due to "shutdown": overflowing bins, full toilets, vandalized trees and improvised rallies in areas with very fragile equilibrium.
"To solve hygiene problems". "By immediately using revenue generated by the entrance fees, National Park Service officials have managed to avoid the temporary closure," they said in a statement. The mobilization of these funds has made it possible to "bring back maintenance teams to solve hygiene problems" and "the park will be able to maintain a certain number of services, including the reopening of the camping sites". "The park will also call back additional staff to ensure the protection of resources and repair some of the damage," the statement added.
The "shutdown", caused by a budget dispute between President Donald Trump and Congress has placed hundreds of thousands of unemployed civil servants since December 22, the majority of some 20,000 employees of the National Park Service, responsible for hundreds of emblematic places in the United States (national parks or monuments). At Joshua Tree, located at the confluence of two deserts typical of the American West, there remained until then only eight "rangers" to monitor 3,200 square kilometers, remained open to the public unlike other sites in the country. Volunteers and members of the small community living in the park organized themselves to maintain basic services, and were thanked by the park authorities.