Shutdown closes gates at state’s national parks

From Pea Ridge to Arkansas Post, national parks in the state and the rest of America closed Tuesday after the federal government partially shut down.

Gates were locked, and roads were blocked to keep people out of Arkansas’ national parks.

Kevin Cheri, superintendent at the 135-mile-long Buffalo National River, said motorists shouldn’t even stop at a roadside picnic table in the park. People are, however, allowed to drive on roads that go through national parks.

“Basically, all entry points into the park will be either gated … or we’ll put barricades up and sign them all accordingly that the park is closed due to the shutdown,” Cheri said.

Campers have until Thursday to vacate national parks.

Everyone in the park after that will be asked to leave, he said.

“I won’t say citations won’t be issued,” he said. “That’s up to the discretion of the officer.”

About nine law-enforcement officers will remain on duty at the Buffalo National River. The park has 91 employees, and all but 20 are now on furlough, said Caven Clark, a park spokesman.

National parks are closed because of a partial federal government shutdown in a battle over Republican efforts to delay or strip funding from President Barack Obama’s health-care law.

The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the U.S. House was working on a bill to reopen the national parks and resume processing of benefits claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs. But Democrats in the House and Senate said they’d reject the bill because Republicans were trying to “cherry-pick some of the few parts of government they like,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.

Tracy Farley, a spokesman for the Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis National Forests, said developed recreation areas in the forests are closed because of the shutdown. Those national forests cover more than 3 million acres, primarily in Arkansas but including a portion of eastern Oklahoma.

“Due to the lapse in federal government funding, the U.S. Forest Service, as with other federal agencies, is closed with the exception of certain essential services,” according to the Forest Service’s website, www.fs.fed.us.

Jay Townsend, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Little Rock, said all boat ramps that are in Corps campgrounds, day use areas or behind gates are closed.

That includes four of the 11 campgrounds at Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas, said Alan Bland, a Corps ranger. The other seven campgrounds were already closed for the season.

“We’re in the process now of shutting down the launch ramps and sending everybody away,” Bland said Tuesday morning. “Any campers who are already here, we’re giving them until Wednesday at 8 p.m. if the government stays shut down. We’re not letting any other campers in.”

There were about 150 campers at Beaver Lake on Tuesday, Bland said. There are other private campgrounds near the lake, he said.

There are 12 lakes in the Corps’ Little Rock District, including Greers Ferry, Bull Shoals, Table Rock and Norfork.

The shutdown also closed national wildlife management areas, which are under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

At the Central High School National Historic Site in Little Rock, five tours were canceled for this week, said Superintendent Robin White. Some of those tours will be rescheduled.

“I think our biggest worry is some of our groups come from long distances and rural areas, and this may be their only shot to visit this year,” she said.

One of the canceled tours was for a school group from Fayetteville. The historic site normally has 50 to 150 visitors a day.

Eight employees of the Central High site were sent home on furlough, White said. Only the facilities manager remained at work as an “essential” employee. Employees deemed to be essential are allowed to continue to work during the shutdown.

White said she hopes to relax and maybe do some hiking, but not in a national park.

“Hopefully we can visit some of our state parks,” she said.

“We enjoy coming to work and developing community programs,” she said. “That’s what we do. Now we’ll just have to focus our energy elsewhere and look forward to coming back to work.”

Ed Wood, superintendent at Arkansas Post National Memorial south of Gillett in Arkansas County, said he has 10 employees, and several were sent home on furlough. Wood wouldn’t provide the exact number.

“We’re closed, and nobody is allowed to be in the park,” he said. “Of course, the park has a segment of state Highway 165, and that’s open. But getting past our gate is prohibited.”

That news will be disheartening for some fishermen, said Wood. They access a couple of popular Arkansas River fishing spots through the park.

“We’re trying to discourage anyone from using the park,” he said. “That is the goal.”

Wood said the park gets 20-25 visitors a day.

At Hot Springs National Park, 38 employees were sent home Tuesday, said Josie Fernandez, the park’s superintendent. Eight employees - six law-enforcement officers and two maintenance workers - were allowed to remain on the job, Fernandez said.

“We had up to four hours to secure the buildings, give a furlough notice to our employees and make sure that everything that needed to be done was done prior to leaving,” she said.

At other national parks in Arkansas, machines answered the telephones Tuesday.

“Because of the government shutdown, Pea Ridge National Military Park is closed until the government reopens,” was one recording for would-be visitors.

Similar messages were recorded for the William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home in Hope, which is a National Park Service site, and the Fort Smith National Historic Site.

Wood said he decided to put up a sign saying, “Entry prohibited.”

“We could have put up a sign saying no trespassing, but I didn’t want to be that nasty,” he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Don Thomason of The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs.