JACKSON HOLE, WYO –Due to recent heavy snows, the National Park Service has closed the north end of the Moose-Wilson Road at its junction with the Murie Ranch Road.
The plowed width of the Moose-Wilson Road has grown narrow in recent days due to accumulated snow. National Park Service road crews are focusing their efforts on keeping US Highway 26/89/191 clear of snow and maintaining access to residences and utility systems. These snow clearing operations are essential for the protection of life safety and property.
The north end of the Moose-Wilson Road is closed to motor vehicle access, however visitors may still walk, ski, or snowshoe on this section of road. The closure to motor vehicles will remain in place for the duration of the partial government shutdown.
Meanwhile, there is news that the National Park Service (NPS) is exploring options to keep some of the more popular open and running during the partial government shutdown.
“As the lapse in appropriations continues, it has become clear that highly visited parks with limited staff have urgent needs that cannot be addressed solely through the generosity of our partners,” said P. Daniel Smith, Deputy Director NPS. “Over the last few days the Acting Secretary of the Department of the Interior David Bernhardt and the National Park Service (NPS) have explored a number of options to address the maintenance and sanitation issues that have arisen at a number of highly visited parks while keeping our commitment to the American public to ensure they have access to their lands.”
The National Park Service is considering using fees collected—entrance, camping, parking, etc‚—as a means of emergency funding until Congress is able to work out a budget.
“After consultation with the Office of the Solicitor at the Department of the Interior, it has been determined that these funds can and should be used to provide immediate assistance and services to highly visited parks during the lapse in appropriations,” Smith said. “We are taking this extraordinary step to ensure that parks are protected, and that visitors can continue to access parks with limited basic services.”
Smith added that NPS hopes to soon be using these funds to clean up trash that has built up at numerous parks, clean and maintain restrooms, bring additional law enforcement rangers into parks to patrol accessible areas, and to restore accessibility to areas that would typically be accessible this time of year.
