As Joshua Tree reopens, anger over damage to economy, environment

[Machiavelli]

Louis Sahagun
Los Angeles Times
January 26, 2019

Against a backdrop of jumbled boulders and spindly trees, former Joshua Tree National Park Supt. Curt Sauer joined dozens of people at a rally in this high desert enclave on Saturday to express their anger over the economic and physical damage caused by the partial government shutdown to the park and the surrounding community.

President Trump signed a short-term spending bill on Friday that will reopen the government until Feb. 15. But the 35-day shutdown has already taken a heavy toll on the economy of this dusty refuge for nature lovers, rock climbers and artists at the main gateway to the 800,000-acre national park, as well as on the otherworldly landscape within the park’s boundaries...

Reports of trash piling up, vandalism, illegal camping and off-road driving led to restricted operations at Joshua Tree, as well as at Yosemite and Death Valley national parks. During this period, skeleton federal crews, volunteers and imported law enforcement officers began patrolling Joshua Tree...

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[Machiavelli]

I don't endorse much of what is said in this article. However, I think that shutdowns overall, are a bad thing, no matter who instigates them.

[Sanguine]

So, they left the park open and gave out entry permits and collected money for them, but didn't allow employees to report to work, and persons unnamed and undescribed did a lot of damage?   Too many questions.