Joshua Tree national park 'may take 300 years to recover' from shutdown

Source: The Guardian

Joshua Tree national park 'may take 300 years to recover' from shutdown

National park saw ‘irreparable’ damage including vandalism, ruined trails and trees cut down, says former superintendent

Ashley Boucher in Los Angeles
Tue 29 Jan 2019 00.51 GMT

The former superintendent of Joshua Tree national park has said it could take hundreds of years to recover from damage caused by visitors during the longest-ever government shutdown.

“What’s happened to our park in the last 34 days is irreparable for the next 200 to 300 years,” Curt Sauer said at a rally over the weekend, according to a report from the Desert Sun. Sauer retired in 2010 after running the park for seven years.

The park reopened Monday after the record 35-day shutdown, and park workers returned to a state of chaos, including damaged trees, graffiti and ruined trails. The reduced ranger supervision during the shutdown saw increased vandalism at the park, causing officials to announce on 8 January that Joshua Tree would temporarily close. It was announced a day later that officials were able to use recreation fee revenue to avoid the closure.

“While the vast majority of those who visit Joshua Tree do so in a responsible manner, there have been incidents of new roads being created by motorists and the destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that have precipitated the closure,” said park spokesman George Land in the news release.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jan/28/joshua-tree-national-park-damage-government-shutdown