U.S. national parks have been running on skeleton crews and dipping into their emergency funds to continue operations since the government shutdown began Oct. 1, impacting students and clubs across the 5Cs.
By day six of the shutdown, nearly two-thirds of park employees had been furloughed. Those who remain are working without knowledge of when they will receive their next paycheck. Many of the 5C students who visited parks over fall break noticed the effects of the shutdown.
“It felt very understaffed,” Eliza Cole SC ’28, who went to both Sequoia and King’s Canyon, said. “There were a lot of people there, but every single one of the visitor centers was closed. The shuttles weren’t running, there was maybe one gift shop open across both parks, and I think we saw maybe two park rangers the entire time.”
Cole said the lack of staffing in national parks likely wouldn’t deter her from returning, but she feels like this results from her comfort in the outdoors.
“I feel like I have more experience outside,” she said. “I have my Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification … so I feel like I’m more prepared in cases of emergencies or stuff like that. But I feel like your average person would maybe feel a little more cautious.”
5C outdoor clubs have also seen the shutdown’s effects on national park services. On The Loose (OTL) is a club that runs a variety of free outdoor trips for 5C students; staff member Alida Lissak SC ’28 said the shutdown has created confusion for people involved in the club.
“I think uncertainty is probably the biggest way we’ve been impacted,” she said.
Lissak said that recreation.gov, one of the primary websites OTL leaders use to plan trips, doesn’t have updated information on the status of national park campsites.
“You don’t want to plan this whole trip and then get there and not even have a campground,” she said.
Looking beyond planning, as the shutdown continues, safety may become a greater concern for OTL staff. They require a 1:5 ratio of participants to Wilderness First Aid or Responder (WFA/WFR)-trained individuals for backcountry trips, and all backpacking trips have satellite devices so they can reach their club adviser in the event of an emergency. However, the lack of communication between park rangers and attendees could pose an obstacle to running safe trips.
People of Color Outside (POCO), a club that runs trips to local outdoor spots and national parks for students of color at the 5Cs, has also felt the impacts of the shutdown.
“It’s so important that these parks are able to operate as normal,” Linsey Wong PO ’27, the president of POCO, said. “It’s a big concern for us because I feel like with the government shutdown, it’s just another barrier of entrance to these wonderful outside spaces.”
Students attending POCO trips haven’t yet expressed any major concerns about the shutdown, Wong said.
“But I think if the government stays shut down, concerns may arise because at a certain point park rangers will stop showing up to work or things like that will happen, and we might have to adjust some trips just to be safe and make sure that we’re keeping in mind everyone’s best interest,” Wong said.
For Mariana Barr SC ’28, a founding member of the 5C mountain biking club, the shutdown means a loss of communication with other stakeholders in public land use.
“It’s always a constant fight for mountain bikers to have access to well-maintained trails that are public and that include cohesion between different outdoor communities,” she said.
Now, with the government shutdown, it has only become more difficult for public land to serve everyone and still be maintained.
“The cuts to public land and firing of a lot of individuals who work in public land sectors [make] it harder to have cohesive conversations that actually make progress towards public land use that is beneficial to everybody,” Barr said.
“The cuts to public land and firing of a lot of individuals who work in public land sectors [make] it harder to have cohesive conversations that actually make progress towards public land use that is beneficial to everybody”
As the government shutdown and funding cuts continue, Barr encouraged people to take action to protect the lands they use.
“Sign petitions, advocate, talk about it, make sure to go out and use the land, because it shows that people want to have access to public land,” she said.
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