Out West, shutdown ruins vacations, hurts local economies as national parks are shuttered

[Emily]

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/083606e1f84142ce8f4558c1858967b4/US--Shutdown-Parks-Tourism

Out West, shutdown ruins vacations, hurts local economies as national parks are shuttered

By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press
October 04, 2013 - 12:53 am EDT
...
Outside Yellowstone's north entrance, two men on a bus with Indian and Chinese passengers frown and give the thumbs down sign after seeing the park is shut down. A family of Japanese tourists leaves the Grand Canyon in tears. An English couple and a Belgium couple touring national parks out West settles for a drive around Yosemite without being able to put their feet on the ground.

"Looks as though both sides are having a bit of a childish tantrum," says Englishman Neil Stanton.

Songyi Cho, on a separate trip to Yosemite, says: "This is crazy. How can a whole government shut down?"

While some international tourists kept tabs on American politics in the days before they ventured to national parks, others were blindsided...

This is outrageous! What a cruel and arrogant way for our federal politicians to treat U.S. citizens and our guests.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Out West, shutdown ruins vacations, hurts local economies as national parks are shuttered

Source: http://www.newburyportnews.com/local/x1442580373/Gestapo-tactics-meet-senior-citizens-at-Yellowstone

October 8, 2013
'Gestapo' tactics meet senior citizens at Yellowstone
John Macone Newburyport Daily News

NEWBURYPORT ? Pat Vaillancourt went on a trip last week that was intended to showcase some of America?s greatest treasures.

Instead, the Salisbury resident said she and others on her tour bus witnessed an ugly spectacle that made her embarrassed, angry and heartbroken for her country.

Vaillancourt was one of thousands of people who found themselves in a national park as the federal government shutdown went into effect on Oct. 1. For many hours her tour group, which included senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States, were locked in a Yellowstone National Park hotel under armed guard.

The tourists were treated harshly by armed park employees, she said, so much so that some of the foreign tourists with limited English skills thought they were under arrest.

When finally allowed to leave, the bus was not allowed to halt at all along the 2.5-hour trip out of the park, not even to stop at private bathrooms that were open along the route...

 

[Emily]

Re: Out West, shutdown ruins vacations, hurts local economies as national parks are shuttered

The last time I was treated like that while a tourist visiting a foreign country, a military junta overthrew the government a couple of weeks after my 'vacation' ended.

Now the capricious federal government is taking what they call 'donations', (some might call it shakedown money), from some states to reopen the parks in those states.
xhttp://www.nps.gov/shutdown/index.html

I would want an iron-clad legal document guaranteeing my access to those parks before planning a vacation there.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/11/232090272/utah-allowed-to-re-open-national-parks-and-foot-the-bill

"This is a practical and temporary solution that will lessen the pain for some businesses and communities in Utah during this shutdown," said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

How temporary? Until someone has a mood swing or the state runs out of 'donation' money?