Despite the ongoing government shutdown in the U.S, few iconic national parks in the country will reopen in the coming weeks.
So far Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Arizona and New York have jumped at the prospect and three popular U.S. National Parks namely the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty are set to reopen soon after the state governors reached the decision.
The parks were among 402 National Park Service attractions in the U.S. that shut gates to fee-paying visitors on October 1, after the U.S. Congress and White House were unsuccessful in reaching an agreement on raising the country's debt limit.
In separate statements, governors of Arizona, New York and South Dakota revealed on Friday, October 11, that they had reached a decision with the federal government to reopen their respective parks, which are major tourist attractions.
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota will reopen on Monday, October 14 and it will cost $15,200 per day to run the landmark (i.e. payment to the federal government). The Grand Canyon, Arizona, which draws close to 5 million visitors annually, is slated to open on Saturday, October 12 as well. Arizona will be paying the National Park Service $651,000 to resume operations seven days a week.
"With a long weekend in front of us, I am thrilled Grand Canyon will be open and fully operational," said Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in a statement, referring to the upcoming Columbus Day weekend. "While this deal will buy us some time and bring back lost revenue to the state, I would hope our elected officials in Washington move urgently to negotiate an immediate end to this government standstill."
New York's governor Andrew Cuomo revealed that its state would be paying National Park Service $61,600 per day to reopen Liberty Island National Park, which resumes operations this weekend.
"The Statue of Liberty is one of this country's most recognizable landmarks, attracting millions of visitors to the state every year, and its closure these last 11 days has had a terrible impact on the local economy and tourism industry," Cuomo said in a statement.
Additionally, On Friday, October 11, Colorado too announced that it would be reopening the Rocky Mountain National Park from Saturday as a deal had been struck. Colorado will pay $40,300 per day to park employees and will look for reimbursement from the federal government in the long term.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert also disclosed on Thursday, October 10, that his state would pay up to $1.67 million to the government to enable visitors to return to Cedar Breaks and Natural Bridges monuments, its five national parks, and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area." The parks should be open over the weekend.
The national parks are a major tourist attraction in the U.S. and account for close to 280 million visitors each year. In the first 10 days of the shutdown, nearly $750 million in visitor spend was lost per estimates by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.
