Santa Barbara, Calif. – The federal government shutdown is reducing staffing, visitor services, and volunteer programs at national parks, forests, and other public lands throughout California’s central coast region, according to a ForestWatch analysis of government documents, websites, and federal buildings.
The shutdown began this week after President Trump and Congress failed to reach agreement to keep programs and services running by October 1, the beginning of the government’s new fiscal year. By some estimates, roughly 750,000 federal workers could be furloughed or fired, including hundreds here in our region.
ForestWatch issued the following statement:
Our parks and forests are already suffering from staffing shortages and budget cutbacks. Now they’re being forced to shutter their doors, eliminate visitor services, and cancel important nature programs for the public. This leaves our public lands vulnerable to harm and limits access to the places we love. It’s dangerous and an affront to everyone who values public lands and wants to see them fully staffed, accessible, and protected.
Oil Drilling, Logging, Mining Allowed to Continue During Shutdown
Despite the lapse in funding and reduction in operations, public lands agencies can facilitate logging, oil drilling, and mining virtually unimpeded. The U.S. Forest Service’s Lapse in Funding Plan allows the agency to “increase domestic timber production” during the shutdown.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Contingency Plan allows oil and gas permitting to continue, stating:
staff responsible for processing oil & gas permits/leases, coal energy leases, and other energy and mineral resources necessary for energy production will be excepted [from furloughs]
Enjoy Your Public Lands Responsibly
Visitors to public lands should expect reduced services during the shutdown. Without adequate staffing, parks and forests are more vulnerable to trash, graffiti, wildfire risk, and natural resource damage. Take extra care to practice Leave No Trace and help protect our public lands for everyone. The responsibility falls on all of us to be extra-vigilant in reporting wildfire danger, resource destruction, or unlawful activities. If you see something, say something.
Law enforcement is not affected by the shutdown and continues to patrol public lands. To report suspicious activities, contact your local Sheriff or Los Padres National Forest dispatch at 805-938-9142 (please only call this number for critically urgent matters, this is not for campground or trail information). And as always, for any emergencies (including wildfire starts or illegal campfires) please call 911. As with previous shutdowns, ForestWatch is prepared to help fill the void and you may contact us for information or assistance.
Local Impact
Here’s what we know about how the shutdown could affect Los Padres National Forest, Channel Islands National Park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Carrizo Plain National Monument, and other federally managed public lands in our region. Information changes daily, and we don’t know yet how long this shutdown will last. We’ll post updates here as they become available.
Los Padres National Forest
Today, signage was placed on ranger district offices notifying the public that they would be closed until further notice. With offices closed, federal personnel will not be able to help the public with questions about hiking trails and campgrounds, nor will they be able to issue firewood gathering permits.
For now, forest roads, trails, campgrounds, and day use areas that were open before the shutdown will remain open, but they may be closed at any time. Some public restrooms may not be maintained.
The USDA’s Lapse of Funding Plan (which specifically covers the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies under the department’s purview) predicts that 39% of U.S. Forest Service employees will be furloughed during the shutdown, decreasing the agency’s nationwide staffing by 12,744 workers. Positions deemed “essential” would remain staffed, including wildfire response, law enforcement, and any positions deemed necessary for carrying out President Trump’s executive order to increase timber production. It is unknown how many Los Padres National Forest personnel are furloughed due to the shutdown, but a 39% reduction applied at the local level would result in the loss of dozens of positions.
The U.S. Forest Service’s shutdown plan also anticipates a reduction in prescribed fires, limits on public access to recreation sites, delays in processing permits and grants, and impacts to ongoing scientific studies.
Santa Barbara Ranger DistrictOjai Ranger District
Websites for each national forest include a highly politicized message blaming “Radical Left Democrats” for the shutdown. This divisive and dangerous language appears across all websites administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service.
Carrizo Plain National Monument
The visitor center at Carrizo Plain National Monument—known as the Goodwin Education Center—is seasonally closed this time of year. It typically opens in early December. The Carrizo Plain National Monument remains open to visitors, including campgrounds and restrooms, but it’s unknown if or how often they will be maintained during the shutdown. Law enforcement continues to patrol the area.
It appears that most or all staff at Carrizo Plain National Monument have been furloughed. An auto-response email from the monument manager states:
Due to the lapse in appropriations, I am out of the office and not authorized to work during this time. I will respond to your email when I return to the office.
National monuments typically fall under the purview of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Bureau’s Contingency Plan calls for furloughing 4,000 of its 9,250 employees (43%). Operations would cease except for law enforcement, emergency response functions, and operations necessary for the safety of human life or the protection of property, including fire suppression, and processing of oil drilling permits.
Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park remains open during the shutdown, though its Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center is closed. During the shutdown, the public cannot access the visitor center’s displays and exhibits. The twice-daily public programming at the visitor center, highlighting park resources, is on hold indefinitely. Daily guided, ranger-led hikes on the islands will not be available.
A phone greeting at the visitor center states:
National parks remain as accessible as possible during the federal government shutdown. However some services may be limited or unavailable.
The National Park Service’s Contingency Plan reduces its Washington DC headquarters to a mere 25 staff. Local staff reductions at Channel Islands National Park is unknown. Park trails will generally remain open, but:
No visitor services will be provided. The NPS will not issue permits, conduct interpretive or educational programs, collect trash, operate or provide restrooms, maintain roads and walkways (including plowing and ice melting) or provide visitor information.
Concessions, such as passenger boats to the islands, remain in full operation. Overall, the National Park Service plans to furlough 9,296 of its 14,500 employees (64%).
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
America’s largest urban park is administered by the National Park Service. The Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas is closed until further notice, and ranger-led interpretive programs are being cancelled. In a social media post this morning, NPS announced that it was cancelling an archaeology program this weekend:
Due to the government shutdown, our 10th Annual Archeology Day scheduled for Saturday, October 4 at King Gillette Ranch has been canceled.
We’re disappointed to miss this day of hands-on discovery, but we look forward to digging into the fun with you in the future. Thanks for your understanding!
In addition, in an email to park volunteers, the National Park Service stated that “All volunteer activities will be suspended until further notice.”
Other Local Public Lands
The shutdown will also affect other public lands in our region, including Pinnacles National Park (its visitor center is closed indefinitely), Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge (the Dunes Center in Guadalupe remains open because it is operated by a nonprofit organization), the California Condor Recovery Program, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service field office in Ventura.
Perhaps hardest-hit by the shutdown is the Environmental Protection Agency, which is seeing an 89% reduction in its workforce. That’s the highest worker furlough percentage of any federal agency, per government records assembled by the New York Times.
