Human Feces and Overflowing Garbage Forcing Yosemite and Other National Parks to Close

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yosemite, california
A road is lined with trash in Yosemite National Park following the government shutdown. Credit: Dakota Snider / AP

Areas of California’s Yosemite National Park were forced to close after human feces and other damaging behavior became too overwhelming. This disgusting scenario partly came about because bathrooms in the park haven’t been open since the partial shutdown of the federal government began on Dec. 22, reports the NYDailyNews.

Hetch Hetchy and Mariposa Grove were among the areas that closed “due to lack of restrooms and resulting impacts from human waste,” the park announced Sunday.

With little staff to tend to Yosemite, overflowing garbage and illegal off-roading is also blighting the scenic region.

“It’s a free-for-all,” Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, told the Associated Press. “It’s so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I’ve seen in my four years living here.”

In past years, the parks have closed during a government shutdown. However, the Trump administration chose to keep them open to visitors despite the lack of rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running.

“We’re afraid that we’re going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artifacts,” John Garder, senior budget director of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, told the Associated Press. “We’re concerned there’ll be impacts to visitors’ safety. It’s really a nightmare scenario.”

nevada fall, yosemite, california, israeli, selfie, fell to death
Nevada Fall, Yosemite, CA.

Yosemite isn’t the only park suffering as a consequence of the shutdown, reports TimeIn Sequoia, General Highway was closed because overflowing trash bins were spreading litter and posed a threat to wildlife and the icy, jammed roadway was seeing up to three-hour delays, according to the National Park Service.

You might also like: Ken Yager: The Man That’s Removed 1 Million Pounds of Garbage from Yosemite National Park, CA

Campers at Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California’s deserts were reporting squabbles as different families laid claims to sites, with no rangers on hand to adjudicate. Visitors were allowing their dogs to run off-leash in an area rich with bears and other wildlife, and scattering bags of garbage along the roads.

Officials at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado said Monday they were closing restrooms and locking up trash bins in many locations.


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2 thoughts on “Human Feces and Overflowing Garbage Forcing Yosemite and Other National Parks to Close

  1. I haven’t seen one photo to back up these stories. In fact, I read about volunteers cleaning up the little bit of garbage and feces they found. Why aren’t people taking out their own garbage and crap, anyway? You can’t blame Trump for idiots who don’t take care of their own trash. ” Pack it in, pack it out”.

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