Gate Closed at OR Dunes NRA
The White House has validated TPAC’s motto that… “All
Trail Decisions are Political Decisions” by issuing a precedent setting order
directing federal agencies to close all parks that are managed by
private management firms including the Arizona-based Recreation Resource Management
Company.
Historically, these user-pay/user-benefit privately
managed federal units have stayed open during government shutdowns including
the 3 week shutdown in 1995.
Included below is an October 2, 2013 letter to Congress written by Recreation Resource Management’s owner, Warren Meyer.
October 2, 2013
Senator John McCain
Senator Jeff Flake
Representative David Schweikert
Help! Administration Orders Shut Down of
Privately-Operated Parks in National Forest
Parks that require no Federal money, and actually pay
rent to the Treasury, are being required to close
Sirs:
My company, based in North Phoenix, operates over 100 US
Forest Service campgrounds and day use areas under concession contract.
Yesterday, as in all past government shutdowns, the Department of Agriculture
and US Forest Service confirmed we would stay open during the government
shutdown. This makes total sense, since our operations are self-sufficient (we
are fully funded by user fees at the gate), we get no federal funds, we employ
no government workers on these sites, and we actually pay rent into the
Treasury.
However, today, we have been told by senior member of the
US Forest Service and Department of Agriculture that people “above the department”,
which I presume means the White House, plan to order the Forest Service to
needlessly and illegally close all private operations. I can only assume their
intention is to artificially increase the cost of the shutdown as some sort of
political ploy.
The point of the shutdown is to close non-essential
operations that require Federal money and manpower to stay open. So why is the
White House closing private operations that require no government money to keep
open and actually pay a percentage of their gate revenues back to the Treasury?
We are a tenant of the US Forest Service, and a tenant does not have to close
his business just because his landlord goes on a vacation.
I urge you to help stop the Administration from lawlessly
taking arbitrary and illegal actions to artificially worsen the shutdown by
hurting innocent hikers and campers. I am not asking you to restore any
funding, because no funding is required to keep these operations open. I am
asking that the Administration be required to only close government services
that actually require budget resources.
Sincerely,
Warren Meyer
In additions, confusion continues to plague the public since the
Antideficiency Act, passed by Congress in 1870, prohibits the government from
incurring any monetary obligation for which the Congress has not appropriated
funds. This precludes FS and BLM
recreation staff from disseminating closure-related information to the public.
The Government Accountability Office states that
employees who violate the Antideficiency Act may be subject to disciplinary
action, suspension and even "fines, imprisonment, or both."
As hunters, off-roaders, fishermen, equestrians, and
mountain-bikers prepare for this weekend’s adventure on federal lands, they can
rest assured that closure signs await their arrival at many Forest Service,
NPS, and BLM campgrounds, staging areas, and trailheads.
