A facade at national parks?

Camps and bathrooms stayed open, but behind the scenes, conservation and research services ended during shutdown

- LILA SEIDMAN AND ALEX WIGGLESWORTH

AT YOSEMITE and some other national parks, public-facing services continued amid the federal shutdown.

FREDERIC J. BROWN AFP/Getty Images

As the government shutdown stretched on last week, Travis Puglisi saw something unusual at Joshua Tree National Park: two rangers doing graffiti checks.

"Do you know how often I run into rangers in the park and actually have conversations with them out in the field?" he said. "Never."

Puglisi would know what's normal. As a hiking guide, he logs about 700 miles on foot in the park each year.

"The park is in many ways better staffed and taken care of now than it is during normal operations," he said. "It's really weird."

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history appears poised to end. But at certain national parks, it hasn't been obvious one was happening.

That's in stark contrast to the last shutdown during President Trump's first term, when images of overflowing dumpsters and bathrooms made headlines.

Another visible difference this time is that some visitor centers — often the first stop on a tourist's itinerary — remained open. That includes those at Joshua Tree, Death Valley and Yosemite national parks, where centers are being staffed or funded by nonprofits.

Regular park employees are also keeping things in order by continuing to empty trash cans, clean up toilets and perform emergency and law enforcement duties.

But advocates and sources say that behind the scenes, conditions are far from business as usual. Parks officials were directed to keep employees who perform front-facing visitor services, such as maintenance and sanitation, on duty, along with essential law enforcement and emergency functions. By contrast, many of those who work in conservation, research and education were told to stay home. Some employees reporting to work are being paid, and many others aren't.