Public lands at risk of neglect amid government shutdown

The federal government shutdown could have noticeable impacts on the way public lands are managed, multiple experts told ABC News.
The federal government shut down overnight on Wednesday, leading some conservationists to worry about the disarray that could result from a lack of staffing for federal land.
Short-term impacts on public lands, such as national monuments, national conservation areas, and wilderness, include pileups of trash and human waste as well as vandalism due to a lack of adequate law enforcement, David Feinman, vice president of government affairs at the Conservation Lands Foundation, told ABC News.
“You’ll have the element there of little to no staff managing the land,” Feinman said.
The National Parks Service’s shutdown plan states that parks roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials will “generally” remain open to visitors and that law enforcement is an “excepted activity” that is set to continue during the shutdown.
The Bureau of Land Management also plans to evaluate and keep open as many public lands and public facilities as possible, according to its contingency plan.
Tagged: Politics BACK TO HOMEPAGE