SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — One Utah family travelled across the country, only to find out that some beloved tourist attractions have been affected by the government shutdown.
Yesterday, Congress failed to agree on funding legislation, leading to a nation-wide government shutdown. As a result, millions of federal employees may go without pay and some national parks face temporary closures.
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One Utah family experienced the government shutdown firsthand after travelling to the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, only to realize it was closed. One of our fellow ABC stations, WTVC NewsChannel 9, spoke with this family.
“It’s about a four-day drive so it’s a couple thousand miles,” Dale Sellers, who was traveling from Utah, said. His family arrived at the Visitor Center close to 10 a.m., when it would normally have been open.
Instead, though, Dale said, “the gate was locked, and we were totally clueless that it was a government shutdown today.”
Because of the closure, Dale said his family had to skip that part of their vacation.
“We’re moving on. We’re heading towards Shiloh today, which I suspect will be some more national parks,” Dale added, “And we’ll experience some shutdowns that we shouldn’t have normally seen.”
Utah National Parks
So far, none of Utah’s National Parks have been closed as a result of the government shutdown, but that doesn’t mean they are completely unaffected.
The Utah Office of Tourism said, “National Parks will remain open and accessible during the shutdown. Visitors should expect reduced services and reduced staffing.”
Reportedly, part of the reason to keep Utah’s National Parks open during the shutdown is because of the amount in tourism dollars it brings in. In 2024, the parks brought in $3.1 billion.
In 2018, during the last government shutdown, Utah was able to keep three national parks open, with limited services.
“Our priority has been and continues to be preserving our parks, maintaining the visitor experience, and ensuring Utah communities and businesses that rely on national park visitation are supported,” said Natalie Randall, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism and Film. “We are engaged in proactive conversations with public and private partners at all levels, offering strategic support to ensure the parks remain open with necessary resources.”
Other organizations across Utah and the United States are pausing some services as a result of the shutdown.
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