Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite National Park flows in 2024. The park will stay open and operate with a skeleton staff during the federal government shutdown.

As of early Wednesday morning, the federal government of the United States once again shut down. As a result, thousands of federal workers have been furloughed, including 9,200 National Park Service workers.

If you were planning a trip to Yosemite National Park, this news is most unwelcome, even though Yosemite, at least for the moment, remains open to the public. 

As a former superintendent at Yosemite, I’ve been searching for details about what the shutdown will mean for the park but, as of now, just as with the question of how long the shutdown will last, there’s a cloud of uncertainty. 

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But if recent history is any indicator, this won’t be good for Yosemite and our other treasured national parks. 

During President Donald Trump’s first term in office, the federal government shut down for 35 days from Dec. 22, 2018, through Jan. 25, 2019, while he and Congress grappled over funding for a border wall along the southern border with Mexico. During that shutdown, Yosemite also remained technically open, but only with “essential” employees.  

Some park rangers remained in place for law enforcement and medical emergency........

© San Francisco Chronicle