Once again Congress manages to screw rural America as many communities’ economic base now supports the tourism of National parks. Something is wrong with Congressional action when it cost more to keep the parks closed than to keep them open and running – example: Statue of Liberty which is reopening thanks to help from NY. Here is an excerpt from article:

“The governors of several other states—including Colorado, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alaska—are also speaking with Jewel about the possibility of reopening federal lands. However, some lawmakers say that fully funding these areas may not be a viable solution.

“The requirement to ‘fully fund National Park Service personnel’ is an arbitrary and costly burden forced on these governors to, once again, maximize the political pain of the National Park Service’s own decisions,” said Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA).

Utah officials say that the benefits are more than worth the price. The state’s popular Zion National Park may cost $50,000 a day to run, but a week-and-a-half of closure has already cost the local economy $3.5 million.”

http://www.outdoorhub.com/news/us-shutdown-federal-lands-reopen-states-foot-bill/