Three deaths in national parks as closure is getting longer

Three days after most of the federal membership was transferred on December 21, a 14-year-old girl died at Horseshoe Bend Overlook in Glen Canyon recreation area, Arizona. The following day, at Christmas, a man died at Yosemite National Park in California after being injured in the head by a fall. On December 27, a woman was killed by a tree in free fall in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee.

These deaths follow the decision of the Trump administration authorities to leave the scenic landscape – but sometimes deadly. – the parks are open even though the interior department has stopped most of its operations. In previous long closures, the National Parks Service had banned access to its sites across the country.

National Parks Service spokesman Jeremy Barnum said in an email that an average of six people die each week in the park system, a figure that includes "accidents such as drowning, falling, road accidents and medical incidents such as heart attacks. "

" Throughout the year, the National Park System offers a wide range of visitor experiences in unique landscapes, with potential hazards that may exist in parks. across the nation, "said Barnum. "Visitors can reduce their risk of injury if they plan in the future and prepare properly, choose the activity best suited to their skills and experience, seek information on hazards and environmental conditions before arrive at the park, respect the rules and the judgment by recreating.

In 1995 and 2013, respectively, the Clinton and Obama administrations made the decision to completely close the parks. Officials concluded that the maintenance of public safety and the integrity of the parks would be jeopardized, but closures also became a political pitfall for Democrats as they reflected one of the most most popular federal operations that had stopped.

In January 2018, White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and then Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, decided to keep national park sites as accessible as possible in case of closure. Trump officials made progress with the plan – but the closure only lasted a few days.

This closure turned the national parks into a real wild west

Several former Parks Service officials, as well as defenders of the system, said in interviews

Diane Regas, President and Chief The management of The Trust for Public Land, said the group had sent a letter to President Trump urging him to close down. all national parks. In an interview Friday, she said that the administration officials may have underestimated the magnitude of the tasks needed to maintain these sites.

"I think we all know that having no bathroom is a nuisance. What people forget is that not having proper sewage treatment can be dangerous, "said Regas. "When you bring people together, managing these parks is like running a small city."

"We are taking risks with some of our most precious natural resources without knowing that we are doing our best to protect do our best to protect the park's resources, "she said," As far as our national parks are concerned, I just do not think that's acceptable. "

The Parks Department estimates that up to 16,000 of its 19,000 employees are laid off." Officials said that services such as cleaning and maintenance vary from park to park. other, because of agreements with concessions and surrounding municipalities to which services are given, such as garbage collection and clearing of roads.

A dozen rangers are currently available to patrol the area. Yosemite National Park, for example, which is the size of Rhode Island Officials said skeleton crews were working to close dangerous areas covered with snow and ice.

On Christm As Eve, the 14-year-old girl ran from the parking lot where her parents parked to see the Horseshoe Bend Overlook, a spectacular cliff overlooking a jagged rocky peninsula. his parents reported his disappearance around 5 pm, triggering an emergency response, according to the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. She was discovered near the cliff near dusk, forcing authorities to wait and recover her body the next morning.

This August 27, 2016, a picture shows Horseshoe Bend near Page, Arizona. Authorities say that a Californian girl visiting the Arizona site has died of what appears to be an accidental fall. Coconino County Sheriff's officials said Wednesday, December 26, 2018 that the 14-year-old girl's body was found about 700 feet (213 meters) below the Horseshoe Bend Pass. (AP Photo / Courtney Bonnell)

National Park Service officials said the rangers responding to an emergency call found the victim in Yosemite with a head injury, apparently due to a short fall. They did not confirm the scrambling of social media by other visitors that he was running after a dog that he had illegally brought into the park. The man, who was not identified, died as a result of his injuries.

A spokesman for the West Pacific Regional Park Service stated that the public had not been informed of the death of Yosemite due to the closure of the plant and was also delaying an investigation. in its causes. "We do not publish more details because the incident is still under investigation," said Andrew Muñoz, Acting Head of Public Affairs and Congress for the region.

Two days after the Yosemite incident, Laila Jiwani, aged 42, was killed by one of the two children of Jiwani, aged 6, was flown to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, according to a spokesperson for the parks department.

Frank. Dean, president and CEO of Yosemite Conservancy, said in a phone interview that park staff were doing their best in difficult circumstances.

"This is the first time of a long-term stop where the parks have remained open," said Dean, who served as park warden and assistant superintendent at Yosemite, before becoming superintendent of the park. the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. "What we are seeing now, is that it does not really work because while this business was dragging on, you get free access and no guide. "

Daniel Wenk, who served as superintendent of Yellowstone National Park until his retirement in September, said in an interview that the absence of this strong presence could hinder the response of the # 39; agency to an emergency.

"A casual cross-country skier would like to go to Tower Falls" in Yellowstone, said Wenk. "If they have a heart attack – every year you have one – we would not be able to react quickly, you could be considerably delayed, it's true, people are dying all the time in national parks, if you can assign [the shutdown] to people who can not access it for an hour and half, it's another story. "

Top Parks Remain Open During Previous closures. Many agency staff had not anticipated that the budget impasse would persist as long. Now, some superintendents are blocking areas of their parks after finding that they can not adequately protect their habitat, wildlife or visitors.

Mount Rainier National Park cleans a toilet and collects garbage at its own expense, but will stop doing so after Sunday's breakfast. At this point, the last open section of the park will be effectively closed, according to Kristen Brengel, vice president of government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association.

Brengel said the superintendents need the freedom to close the parks if they decide.

"The political pressure to keep open parks outweighs some of these judgments," she said in an interview. "We need a release valve here for the parks department so they can do what's right."

In addition to the un-maintained toilets and uninformed and staff-guided visitors the teams can not work to prepare the parks. summer season and repair the roads. Road crashes ranked second among the causes of death in the parks in 2007, after drowning among deaths caused to the public.