BAR HARBOR, Maine — Following the weekend’s major snowstorm, Acadia National Park is now taking the extraordinary step of dipping into its entrance fee money to pay workers to plow the snow.
The decision comes directly from Washington, and it's an unprecedented move.
On January 6, 2019, the director of the U.S. Department of the Interior signed a memorandum allowing national parks to use entrance fee money to pay staff to perform limited park clean up. Trash was sullying several parks on the west coast, a symptom of keeping the parks open but unstaffed during the shutdown.
At Acadia National Park, the concern was not over trash, but rather a build-up of snow. There were concerns that without immediate attention, the snowy roads would freeze over and become even more difficult for the staff to clear once the park reopens.
The decision is controversial because entrance fee money is typically reserved for renovations done to the park and projects that contribute to the overall visitor experience. The park staff is, of course, supposed to be paid by the federal government.
At Acadia, only limited plowing has been authorized. Even so, this is certainly another example of a complication that has arisen from keeping national parks open, but unstaffed, during this ongoing shutdown.