It’s currently day nine of the U.S. government shutdown, which has left many national parks in the lurch as people continue to visit and recreate in these areas. Unfortunately, not everyone is doing so responsibly. Concerned citizens are taking to social media to share ways that other visitors are not following rules on federal land now that there’s limited or no staff to enforce them.
For instance, people are BASE jumping off El Capitan in Yosemite National Park (an illegal activity). A climber on El Cap recently recorded not one but two BASE jumpers from his position on the wall and posted the footage to Instagram.
[RELATED: BASE Jumper Caught Soaring Off the Top of Yosemite’s El Cap]
In Rocky Mountain National Park, visitors are apparently ignoring trail-closure signs and going off trail in sensitive restoration areas. In Joshua Tree National Park, one camper reports he got mixed messages about whether his camping reservation was cancelled or not, and then when he showed up anyway, the campsite was open to people on a first-come-first-served basis. This park in particular had a tough time during the last shutdown.
See a few examples of how news outlets and real-life citizens are calling other people out for creating “chaos” in national parks amid the government shutdown:
Have you visited a national park since the government shutdown began? Were other visitors recreating responsibly or taking advantage of reduced staff?
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