FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2018
DENVER—As President Trump pushes for a Christmas shutdown of the federal government, the Interior Department intends to keep America’s national parks open to the public, while closing many critical visitor centers and facilities. The Center for Western Priorities issued the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Secretary Zinke should not let one of his final acts be a short-sighted and irresponsible stunt to leave America’s national parks open but unstaffed. Zinke should have learned from the last time he did this, when people were able to walk into our parks and break laws intended to protect our national treasures. He has one last chance to do the right thing for America’s public lands—we hope he makes a good decision.”
In January 2018, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke left many national parks open to the public which resulted in a number of avoidable events including a poacher killing a pregnant elk in Zion National Park, snowmobilers riding into a restricted area in Yellowstone National Park, and visitors with metal detectors and a drone entered Gettysburg National Military Park.
For more information, visit westernpriorities.org. To speak with an expert on public lands, contact Aaron Weiss at 720-279-0019 or aaron@westernpriorities.org. Sign up for Look West to get daily public lands and energy news sent to your inbox.