Friday, October 11, 2013

Arizona Gov. Brewer, local businesses fight to reopen Grand Canyon

With the partial suspension of U.S. government services showing no signs of ending, tourists will continue to be turned away from the Grand Canyon, despite a push by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and local businesses to reopen the state’s signature national park.

Brewer wants the iconic park reopened and has offered to pay for it with state money, but her proposal was rejected Thursday by a park official who said that as long as the federal government remains shut down, such a plan isn’t an option.

“I appreciate the support and I thanked them for the offer, but it’s not an offer we can accept,” said park superintendent Dave Uberuaga.

About 2,200 people who work at the Grand Canyon National Park and its hotels have been furloughed as a result of the government slimdown that began Tuesday. “And that’s not counting the economic impact in the gateway communities, all of the related businesses, the bus tours, hiking companies, the jeep tours, all of those associated functions are suffering economically as well,” Uberuaga said.

Many of those businesses also have offered to chip in to pay to reopen the park.

Red Feather Properties, which operates lodges in the nearby town of Tusayan, has pledged $25,00 to help reopen the park and is encouraging other businesses to follow suit, according to the Grand Canyon News. Other businesses have pledged about $125,000 to keep the park partially open.

Clarinda Vail, the property manager, said she has reached out to the Park Service about the possibility of operating shuttles between Tusayan and the park. On Thursday night, the town council announced it had committed $200,000 to reopen one of the park’s viewpoints.

“I just think that if private entitles are able to step up and say that we’ll help and fund to keep the Grand Canyon open for a while, I think it should be considered,” Vail told the newspaper. “We need our governor, Congress, Senate, everyone to not use our National Park Service as a pawn in this.”

The Grand Canyon News reported that Uberuaga rejected the idea at Tusayan’s town council meeting, telling council members that all parks in the country will remain closed, even if enough money is offered to open them on a limited basis.

“Bottom line, any third-party funding of the national park opening will not occur. This is a fundamental core operation of the federal government provided for by government appropriations by the U.S. Congress,” he said.

Nationally, at least one other governor also has been turned back in a similar effort. South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard had offered to use state employees to keep Mount Rushmore open.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin. “Why wouldn’t the federal government let local communities or states assist in keeping some of these things open?”

Full article: http://www.foxnews.c … reopen-grand-canyon/



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