The Cellar - The National Parks in Colorado and Utah are closing

I guess a lot of folks wouldn't think this is a big deal, but to me it's a major disappointment: Canyonlands and Island in the Sky National Parks have been closed due to the sequester.

I had been planning to finally get out of town now that it's almost spring and spend a little time "where the wild things are." I know all the back ways into the parks to get around the main entrances with their barricaded gates. Except I think that might be illegal. Of course, if the Park staff have all been furloughed, there would be no one to catch the scoff laws. Still...

I guess I could get out my maps and head for BLM land where they don't care who comes and goes and you can do what you want (except start forest fires) and there's no barricaded gates. But I was really looking forward to spending a few days in Island in the Sky again. Bummer.

In addition, I hear that Mesa Verde National Park just outside Cortez is going to be closed as well. If Congress lets the sequester continue, the Four Corners region will be shit out of luck. We live by the tourists who flock to the National Parks around here. Without the tourist trade, the job market will take a nose dive, and the unemployment rate here is already pretty grim.

I'm NEVER going to find a job if this continues, never mind just missing the splendor of Island in the Sky and the rest. :(

ETA - The above is the word on the street in Cortez, but I just checked on the Internet and it might only be the Visitor Centers will be closed and the Parks will have reduced hours. But you get your back country permit at the Visitor Center and without one, you can be subject to all kinds of fines, fees, and penalties. And if you can't travel in the back country, the Park is as good as officially closed anyhow.

More info on Parks closing and reduced hours.

sent via the mournful song of coyotes