What Is The Effect Of The Government Shutdown In Colorado?
In its 13th day, the Trump mandated government shutdown is affecting everyone nationwide in one way or another.
Since the shutdown began on December 22, over 800,000 employees have been furloughed or laid off without pay, and with no end in sight are concerned about paying bills and keeping homes.
National parks are affected as well. Rocky Mountain National Park, for example, has not had roads plowed and people who show up to the park are not allowed to drive into it. In addition to the lack of plowing, restrooms are not being cleaned and trash is not being dumped due to the lack of government employees and people are throwing trash into toilets or on the ground because there is nowhere else to put it.
The National Park service is shut down, only responding to emergencies and park access in all National Parks in Colorado and nationwide are closed to vehicular traffic, so people are walking into and around the parks.
With President Trump digging his heels in and not budging until "the wall" is funded and Congress no closer to reaching an agreement, parks such as Rocky Mountain National Park will continue to see trash rising and restrooms sorely in need of attention.
Government employees are already filing for unemployment and several restaurants in Colorado are offering free meals during the shutdown.
We hope this will get resolved soon.