Shutdown story emerges with park's re-opening

By Jerry Goldberg
BUSHKILL — The 16-day government shutdown by lawmakers in Washington, D.C., left its mark in Pike County, which was left with barricaded parks, lean times for local businesses, and a shuttered outreach center that feeds the poor.

Local residents apparently didn't connect the spectacle in Washington, D.C., with regular life along the Delaware.

"Most people said they were unaware the park was closed," said Kathleen Sandt, public information ranger for the National Park Service's Delaware National Water Gap Recreation Area. Some people continued to use the closed facilities. But, she said, law enforcement rangers issues no tickets, and "there were no major incidents."

Sandt talked to reporters at NPS headquarters in Bushkill on Thursday, just hours after Congress reached a budget deal that ended the standoff and re-opened the park, along with other federal facilities nationwide.

Law enforcement rangers and emergency communications rangers were the only NPS employees on duty during the shutdown. Sandt said they stayed on because their job is to protect life and property.

"There were about 25 of these employees not furloughed during the past two weeks," she said.

On the first day of the shutdown, Oct. 1, NPS employees reported to work for four hours to prepare for their open-ended absence. “We were all gone by 1 p.m." said Sandt.

Everyone cleared out personal belongings from their desks, not knowing how long they would be away. They moved office plants to a long table at the front of the building so that they could be watered by one of the rangers still on duty.

All park rangers, whether law enforcement or interpretation rangers, wear the same uniform. The law enforcement rangers have a different-colored badge and wear a “duty belt” to hold their gun, handcuffs, and flashlight. Interpretation rangers provide the public with information about the park's flora and fauna, give guided tours, and visit local public schools to talk to students about the park's many treasures.

The Bushkill Outreach Church on state Route 209 was also closed during the shutdown. The church, owned by the National Park Service, provides free food for those in need.

Other attractions closed during the shutdown were Millbrook Village in New Jersey, and in Pennsylvania Dingmans Falls, Smithfield Beach, Milford Beach, Turtle Beach, the Pocono Environmental Education Center, Childs Park, the Raymondskill recreation area, the Buttermilk Falls recreation area, and many hiking trails and camping areas.

Sandt said all trails, river access areas, picnic areas would open by the end of the day on Thursday, Oct. 17. Workers were busy removing "closed" signs.

She said the weather was still beautiful and that there's still plenty of time to take in the fall colors, which have turned the river valley into a fantasia of reds and golds.

Yes, but will this happen again? The new House-Senate budget deadline is Dec. 13, a mere eight weeks away — and Congress must act by Jan. 15 to keep the government open.

"We’re certainly hopeful Congress will work it out before the deadline," Sandt said.

For more information call the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area at 570-426-2452, or visit www.nps.gov/dewa or the DWGNRA's Facebook page.

See related story: "Business slides during shutdown": http://bit.ly/1aukN0F.