Government Shutdown

[IntrepidXJ]

Let me start out by saying: I hate making reservations in Canyonlands.....which is why I haven't been to the Maze yet (or the White Rim for that matter). Last year I finally decided I wanted to go to the Maze and actually made reservations, took the time off from work and planned the trip ahead of time...which starts on Saturday.

The Govt better get the budget figured out by Friday!

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Randy,

In the unfortunate event that federal employees are furloughed, the
national park system, including Canyonlands National Park, will be closed.
We wanted to provide advance notice that you may not be able to begin your
backcountry trip due to this closure. If this closure prevents you from
using your current reservation, we will be glad to try and rebook your
reservation for a future date.

If you decide to cancel your reservation and you paid by credit card we
will refund your reservation fee back to your credit card.

If you paid by means other than credit card we will refund your reservation
fee once we are provided guidance on how to process these payments.

Canyonlands National Park Reservation Office
435-259-4351 M-F 8am-12:30pm MST
(fax) 435-259-4285
canyres@nps.gov

[ibenick]

If they close up and go home then I guess they won't know if you went anyway....

[Udink]

If they close up and go home then I guess they won't know if you went anyway....
I was thinking the same thing... :haha:

[IntrepidXJ]

Whether it's true or just something they are saying to discourage people from going anyway.....they told me the rangers will be sweeping the campgrounds and making sure people pack up and go....

I inquired about picking up my permit on Friday since you can pick it up a day early....this is what I was told

[Scott Card]

If they close up and go home then I guess they won't know if you went anyway....
I too was thinking the same thing. I would begin the day with a poached egg. Have yourself a "theme" day. :haha:

[blueeyes]

:lol8: Have yourself a theme day and get a refund!

[ibenick]

This could be bad... Apparently at the beginning of the session the republicans made this new 72 hour rule that means the government will have to shut down at least for the weekend. It requires 72 hours once a bill is finalized for it to be reviewed before it can be passed into law. The article quoted a republican aide who felt it was likely they wouldn't back down on that rule even if they reach a deal on Friday. :crazy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/government-shutdown-budget-deal_n_845694.html

[asdf]

wtf... is that for real? National Park furlough?
Does this mean I will be getting some of my taxes back?

[Sombeech]

Does this mean I will be getting some of my taxes back?
Not with obama in office:roflol:

[IntrepidXJ]

I was just speaking to a ranger at the Colorado National Monument who is a friend of a friend......she says Law Enforcement will be patrolling the parks, as it is considered necessary personnel....their job is to keep the park closed.

[asdf]

Not with obama in office:roflol:

That's exactly what makes you part of the problem.
If McCain was in office do you really think we would be any better off?

[Sombeech]

Yeah I'm part of the problem :roflol::roflol::roflol:

[Don]

This could be bad... Apparently at the beginning of the session the republicans made this new 72 hour rule that means the government will have to shut down at least for the weekend. It requires 72 hours once a bill is finalized for it to be reviewed before it can be passed into law. The article quoted a republican aide who felt it was likely they wouldn't back down on that rule even if they reach a deal on Friday. :crazy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/06/government-shutdown-budget-deal_n_845694.html

That only applies if they agree on a budget. It they come up with another continuing resolution the 72 hour rule doesn't apply.

I'll tell you what's funny about this. A whole LOT of federal employees spent a whole lot of time this week in meetings and planning for the possibility of a shut down instead of doing their jobs. :roll:

It's really annoying that we let the wingnuts speak for us. The majority of Americans are nearer the middle; democrats who own guns or republicans who are for equal rights or democrats for more fiscal responsibility or republicans for wilderness protection. But we allow the extreme voices among us to represent us and then wonder why they are unable to compromise. :roll:

If they don't pull their heads out and I end up on furlough Monday you can bet your ass I'll be spending my time off making some angry phone calls and sending some angry emails. :angryfire:

[moab mark]

That only applies if they agree on a budget. It they come up with another continuing resolution the 72 hour rule doesn't apply.

I'll tell you what's funny about this. A whole LOT of federal employees spent a whole lot of time this week in meetings and planning for the possibility of a shut down instead of doing their jobs. :roll:

It's really annoying that we let the wingnuts speak for us. The majority of Americans are nearer the middle; democrats who own guns or republicans who are for equal rights or democrats for more fiscal responsibility or republicans for wilderness protection. But we allow the extreme voices among us to represent us and then wonder why they are unable to compromise. :roll:

If they don't pull their heads out and I end up on furlough Monday you can bet your ass I'll be spending my time off making some angry phone calls and sending some angry emails. :angryfire:


Well put Don

[homerj]

Well put Don

Agree!

[JP]

Oh how we forget the Dems purposely didn't come up with a budget when they had...the majority, the time and when they were supposed to. Gee, wonder why they left it for after the onslaught they saw coming. We'll see if Obama's plan backfires :haha:

[keithd]

If we shut down, I plan to spend my time hiking!

[IntrepidXJ]

If we shut down, I plan to spend my time hiking!

Just not in a National Park.....

[Don]

Oh how we forget the Dems purposely didn't come up with a budget when they had...the majority, the time and when they were supposed to. Gee, wonder why they left it for after the onslaught they saw coming. We'll see if Obama's plan backfires :haha:

You are exhibiting precisely my point. Both sides share the blame in their inability to compromise. Blaming only one side or the other is shortsighted and naive.


Sent from my Google Android SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

[uintahiker]

I for one really like the idea of term limits on all elected government officials. Especially the Federal ones. The thing that they don't understand is that they are replaceable. They just somehow get it in their mind that all things will grind to a screeching halt without them. Quite frankly, it will and does go on.

I also would like to end tax withholding from paychecks- that way people would have a better idea of what they're actually paying, but I digress.

[trackrunner]

If they close up and go home then I guess they won't know if you went anyway....


Whether it's true or just something they are saying to discourage people from going anyway.....they told me the rangers will be sweeping the campgrounds and making sure people pack up and go....

but they are not checking you have a permit :naughty:

go in early and hide in the backcountry the limited critical employees that are allowed to work would be more focused on keeping people form entering the park and clearing out the campgrounds then finding someone hours in and deep in the backcountry. my bet is there would not be many backcountry rangers on patrol. take the chance. if they found you deep in the backcountry on saturday the worst they could do to you is inform you of the shutdown and that you would have to drive out, a scenic drive it would be.

[SportSawyer]

... the worst they could do to you is inform you of the shutdown and that you would have to drive out, a scenic drive it would be.

Right. Ever heard of the "Sedona 5" with respect to the shutdown during Clinton's presidency?

http://www.mountainbikeheaven.com/archives/bagfame.html

[oldno7]

Wonder how our Gubermint will treat areas within Grand Staircase? It is a National monument ya know.
I know for a fact, Glen Canyon is working on keeping folks out if a shutdown occurs.

[IntrepidXJ]

Right. Ever heard of the "Sedona 5" with respect to the shutdown during Clinton's presidency?

http://www.mountainbikeheaven.com/archives/bagfame.html

I wouldn't mind paying a fine, but I don't want to risk jail time or losing my Jeep...

[accadacca]

43209

[trackrunner]

Right. Ever heard of the "Sedona 5" with respect to the shutdown during Clinton's presidency?

http://www.mountainbikeheaven.com/archives/bagfame.html

some big differneces here. they were mt. biking on a closed trail to mt. biking & had illegal substances.

IntrepidXJ is doing a legal activity. he would be entering the park when the park is legally open. if there is a shutdown then at the law enforcement meeting about the shutdown they would bring up the fact that someone may have to inform him he has to leave now the park is closed because of the shutdown.

but if he illegally entered the park next Thursday during the shutdown he might not be told or escorted out of the park under his own power so nicely.

but I agree there is a wide range of reactions that could be encountered: a nice fyi the park is closed to shutdown . . . to something a little less than the 5 poachers experienced.

also IntrepidXJ leave the medical marijuana at home for this trip.

[IntrepidXJ]

From a friend who's supposed to go with me tomorrow:

I just called the Hite store. Talked to an employee, who emphasized that this is all "what he had been told" and definitely not "official".

But... His understanding is, if there is a shutdown, there will be barricades put up out on the main road and so no, we won't even be able to get to the pumps. He said he thought they would be putting up barricades on the dirt road heading towards The Maze too. And that "they said" they would be patrolling it - he also speculated out loud that he didn't know whether they really would or not.

--------

A good reason the Swell and Cedar Mesa should not become National Monuments...

[asdf]

I am supposed to be backpacking Coyote Gulch and camping all over Escalante next week. I called Glen Canyon NRA office and they told me that we will not be allowed to backpack anywhere within Glen Canyon and this will be strictly enforced.

I then called the Escalante field office and was told they were still unsure if they will be chasing people off the land all weekend and to try back later today.

Been planning this week long trip for months... wth

[IntrepidXJ]

Been planning this week long trip for months... wth

I feel your frustration!

Maybe since the GSENM is managed by the BLM instead of the NPS you might get lucky there...

[ibenick]

Yep. I believe that the national parks will be actively keeping people out. Same for places like the marinas in Glen Canyon NRA where you have to pay a fee to get in. But I have a hard time believing that the BLM has enough resources to even begin to try and keep people out of GSENM. I wouldn't blink an eye if I were headed that way. Self serve permits at all trail registers!

[asdf]

Just got off the phone with GSENM, they will close all campgrounds and bathrooms but they will not be posting signs on major trails head. Glen Canyon NRA will be posting closure notices at all major trail heads. I'm still going for Coyote Gulch... going to be pissed If I pack down in there with the kids in tow and am told I have to leave. Maybe I will just make them carry me out.

[trackrunner]

this article may be an indication on how the shutdown could be handled. Might be told you have 48 hours to leave.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/51584171-79/grand-park-canyon-shutdown.html.csp?page=1
Park Service rangers mounted horses, jumped aboard motorized rafts, and set out on foot and in helicopters to clear visitors from the Grand Canyon. They searched backcountry and rafting permits to find visitors throughout the 1.2 million-acre park and told them they had to leave within 48 hours. That was the beginning of a 21-day shutdown of the federal government 15 years ago. Another one looms.

[Don]

The NY Times says "Visitors staying on park campgrounds and hotels will have until 6 p.m. on Monday, April 11, to vacate park property."

http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/what-a-government-shutdown-means-for-travelers/?hp

[DWayne27]

I havent been able to follow much of this on the news or anything. Is there any estimate as too how long parks (and all the other government stuff) will be shut down?

[IntrepidXJ]

I havent been able to follow much of this on the news or anything. Is there any estimate as too how long parks (and all the other government stuff) will be shut down?

Until a budget is figured out....

[oldno7]

I havent been able to follow much of this on the news or anything. Is there any estimate as too how long parks (and all the other government stuff) will be shut down?

Until 3 dipshits, who claim to represent "our" country, get over their "personal" agendas.

[canyonphile]

Just not in a National Park.....

:angryfire: pissed: :wallbash:

Everything about this govt. shutdown totally blows, but esp. them shutting down the parks. Seriously - why not just let visitors, which would be us TAXPAYERS, enjoy the parks for free, with a big huge sign with red print saying that there are no NPS staff on duty to help your ass if you get into trouble while visiting the park while it is shut down, or to complain to if the toilet paper in the bathrooms runs out. The Grand Canyon does just fine without Ranger Rick patrolling the area :roll:. Ditto Canyonlands. Glen Canyon NRA? How in bloody hell are they going to keep people out of there?

I mean, it is approaching prime season to hit some of the areas (like the Grand Canyon) that will be too warm to backpack possibly by the time this group of self-serving assclowns known as Congress decide to pull their collective heads out and try to WORK TOGETHER to come up with a budget. Honestly, if they can't do the job they were elected to do, then they should also not get paid. In fact, their worthless asses should be thrown out and replaced.

Randy & Summit and anyone else...I hope your trips aren't ruined. I'd be furious if I'd planned for a trip, adjusted my schedule accordingly, and then have it casually go down in flames because of government incompetence.

[mattandersao]

I havent been able to follow much of this on the news or anything. Is there any estimate as too how long parks (and all the other government stuff) will be shut down?

I believe I read the shutdown in '95 lasted 20 days and shaved 1% off of economic growth. :facepalm1:

[ibenick]

Well look at that. With less than an hour to go they stopped the shutdown. What a bunch of showboating asshats.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/08/federal-budget-deal-government-shutdown_n_846614.html

[accadacca]

Deal to avoid government shutdown

April 8th, 2011 @ 9:05pm

By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) - Perilously close to a government shutdown, congressional leaders reached agreement with the White House late Friday night on a deal to cut tens of billions of dollars in federal spending and avert the closure.

House Speaker John Boehner informed the GOP rank and file of the accord, reached in grueling negotiations over several weeks, an official said.

"We have an agreement," concurred a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Jon Summers.

Because drafting and then passing the broader legislation could take days, congressional leaders raced to approve a stopgap measure to prevent the onset of the first shutdown in 15 years, due to begin at midnight. Officials said it would keep the government in funds through the middle of next week.

Boehner told reporters just before 11 p.m. EDT that the House would continue working.

Republicans said the deal called for $39 billion in spending cuts, a measure that one official said Boehner told his rank and file marked the "largest real-dollar spending cut in American history."

Over a decade, the agreement would cut more than $500 billion from the federal budget, Boehner added, according to a participant in the meeting.

The agreement marked an extraordinary reach across party lines and the first test of a new era of divided government that includes Obama in the White House, control of the Senate by fellow Democrats and a tea party-flavored Republican majority in the House.


http://www.ksl.com/?nid=157&sid=14596540

[lofty]

Phew !

Am I glad the parks and monuments won't shut down ! Leaving in a week to come play in utah !

[powderglut]

:ne_nau:Still a little confused. Do they have until this Thursday Apr 14th to get it figured out, or we get a shutdown on Fri 15??
Or......Someone has said this deal lasts until the fiscal year begins. That would be on Oct 1. ( If that's the case no issue for this spring and summer)
Any clarity????? We're heading out next Friday, to see slots, ruins and formations, for 2 weeks. I'd like to know if our crew from Steamboat will be potential outlaws, if the politicians do their usual party line BS, and come to no decision. This is making it hard to plan. Most confusing.
I can't believe the monument or the parks have the law enforcement resources to keep people out of the non paying areas. I'll probably make some phone calls monday am.

[JP]

You are exhibiting precisely my point. Both sides share the blame in their inability to compromise.
I don't think this has anything to do with compromise. This is the first time in the history of Congressional Budget Act, that a President failed to turn in an annual budget request. Just passed it over when he the overall majority. He was given the stimulus, he could have had any budget he requested. It would have been fruitless for the republicans to even put up a fight, they would have lost.