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700,000 people a day would have been visiting the parks and that the surrounding areas are losing $76 million in visitor spending per day. The park service said it is losing $450,000 per day in revenue from entrance fees and other in-park expenditures, such as campground fees and boat rentals.

Aggressive actions and double standards used by the National Park Service are vindictive and designed to inflict maximum inconvenience and fear among visitors, say Republican lawmakers whose efforts to reopen the parks are gridlocked by Senate Democrats. World War II veterans were blocked by barricades and armed guards from paying tribute at their memorial last week. However, the national mall where the memorial is located was opened Tuesday to allow hundreds of illegal immigrants to stage a protest demanding amnesty. ... the administration has closed the Mall and memorials to some groups and not others, giving preferential treatment under the...

The Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina created a publicity crap storm for the Spite House when operators were forced to close during the government shutdown. The inn sits on federal land and despite the owner’s attempt to defy orders from the Park Police, he was forced to close his doors and throw away spoiled food during the height of fall foliage season. Today, the inn will reopen at 5 p.m. and all October reservations will be honored.

No water for you! Via the DC: The National Park Service has actually had someone remove the handles off all the well pumps along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal that runs 184 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland, according to sources. The NPS has also stationed officers in the park to make sure bikers don’t ride down closed bike paths and that no one can come near the scenic waterway.

SERIOUSLY? National Park Service spitefully removes handles from water fountains By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) 10/8/2013 LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Until very recently, the National Park Service was one of the least-loathed government agencies in the country. Now, with orders from on high to keep the public from visiting beloved parks and monuments the agency is developing a poor reputation. ..... It what looks like a spiteful move, the NPS even removed handles from water spigots along the Chesapeake and Ohio canal where bikers and joggers exercise as well as along the Great Allegheny Passage, just...

On Thursday, the Pisgah Inn, which holds a concession on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, North Carolina, announced that it would defy the National Park Service’s order to close up, and would open doors for business on Friday. On Friday morning, NPS rangers showed up, lights swirling, to close down the business and turn away its customers, supposedly thanks to the government shutdown. Pisgah Inn receives no federal money, and according to owner Bruce O’Connell, who spoke exclusively to Breitbart News, “All we do is pay the government money. We don’t take anything from them.” It is located on...

On his radio show yesterday, our pal Michael Graham spoke to one of the tourists held under house arrest (or hotel arrest) by the National Park Service geyser stasi at Yellowstone Park. Here’s part of the interview: There was a large group of Asians there. Not many spoke English… They said, ‘Are we under arrest?’ I mean, they were fearful. I mean, it looked like we were inside a prison. There were two large guards doing a walk up and down in front of the doors, so people felt like they were in prison. And the Australians said that would...

TUSAYAN, Ariz. (AP) — Nearly two dozen people have been issued citations for entering Grand Canyon National Park after a partial government shutdown forced its closure. Grand Canyon Chief Ranger Bill Wright says some people have been caught at the South Rim, on trails, attempting rim-to-rim hikes or trying to sneak in through dirt roads. All of the citations will be handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Wright says each of the 21 citations issued as of Monday has a mandatory order to appear in federal court.

Jon Ostendorff @JonOstendorff Workers at Pisgah Inn forced to throw out food today as #shutdown lingers. #avlnews #ncpol The Pisgah Inn sits on federal land on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. When the government shut down, the inn was forced to close right in the middle of the fall foliage tourism season. Federal workers are likely to be paid retroactively, but the Pisgah Inn is losing money. And now, several days into the shutdown, the kitchen is tossing out food.

“I am now occupying the building at this time.” And with that one decision – restaurant owner Glenn Helseth joined the ranks of Americans who’ve decided to defy the strong-arm tactics of the National Park Service. For the past 11 years Helseth and his wife have operated the Carrot Tree Kitchens Restaurant inside the historic Cole Digges House in Yorktown, Va. At least 20 of Helseth's longtime employees are facing unemployment. They can’t make rent and some are faced with choosing between buying food or buying medicine. The National Park Service owns and operates the building. So when the government...

I[f] anyone had any doubt about the vicious and petty character of Barack Obama and his administration the past week should have put those doubts to rest. Not even Nixon’s “enemies list” can compete with Obama. Nixon’s list was focused on not inviting certain pustulent bags of crap, like Daniel Schorr, to White House function. Obama and his minions have effectively declared all Americans the enemy in an attempt to make the impact of the government shutdown artificially painful. This could not succeed without the assistance of a corps of facilitators, Little Eichmanns, if you will, who are willing to...

The National Park Service is allowing an Oct. 8 pro-immigration rally on the national mall, even as it posts pickets and barriers to bar Americans from visiting their open-air memorials. “They’re going to be allowed to go [ahead] because it is a First Amendment activity,” Shannon Maurer, a spokeswoman for the “March for Immigrant Dignity and Respect,” told The Daily Caller. “They allowed us to have it because it is part of the First Amendment of the constitution,” said Susana Flores, a spokeswoman for CASA in Action, which is organizing the rally. ”We’re going to have a stage and microphones,”...

Folks who live in the Great Smoky Mountains have just about reached their breaking point with the federal government. “It’s almost like they are pushing to see how far they can push before the American people say enough is enough,” said Ed Mitchell, the mayor of Blount County, Tenn. “We were founded on a declaration of independence. And they are about to push the people to the line again.” Nearly a third of Blount County is inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So when the federal government shut down the park, it also shut down one of the area’s...

<p>The Monitor in McAllen (http://bit.ly/1huO8fh ) reported Sunday that County Commissioner David Garza said no federal money is spent on staffing, managing or maintaining the park. However, he was reluctant to question the federal authorities' decision.</p> <p>"We don't want to get into a fight with the federal government at this time," he said.</p>

Whatever the perceived shortcomings of Ted Cruz and his hardy band of stalwarts, they've performed a remarkable public service by highlighting the fate that awaits all who rub wrongly the translucently thin skin of King Barack the Petulant. The Spartans may have had their shields, Native Americans their tomahawks and arrows, the Samurai may have wielded his sword with all the deadly grace of a tiger in mid-attack, but pound for pound, nothing comes close to the audacious stupidity of "Barrycades" and people in pointy little Smokey the Bear hats, poised to protect America's monuments from law-abiding citizens Welcome to...

WASHINGTON, DC - So far, the National Park Police don't seem to be targeting visitors jumping over barricades to see the monuments or use federal parks. But violators could technically be ticketed and fined $50. Fox 5 found many out-of-town tourists ignoring signs that say parks and attractions are closed. Dozens of locals who normally play beach volleyball in a section of West Potomac Park were there enjoying the weather and some games this afternoon. Some didn't realize the park was closed. Others aware of the government shutdown thought a $50 fine was too steep. We called the Park Police...

During the Government Shutdown, the National Park Service Police are the first defense against society collapsing under the onslaught of tourists and World War II veterans overwhelming the Barry-cades at our most precious national monuments. These are their stories.

Tax-paying, hard-working families aren’t letting White House shutdown politics stop them from enjoying America’s beauty. They’re defying the orange cones at Mount Rushmore. They’re breaching the barrycades at Zion National Park. And now, the Badlands of South Dakota. Noelle Bruno tweets that she and her family made it through Mount Rushmore despite the White House obstacles:

Evil Thought of the Day: If the Park Service is evicting residents from homes built on Federal Park lands. . . . . . .isn't the White House on National Park Land. Under Equal Protection Under Law, shouldn't the Obama's be evicted, too ??? Not that it will happen, as Some Animals are More Equal than Others. but. . .

Washington’s grown a bit nastier and colder since the last government shutdown, and the casualties of the partisan fight are the family memories lost from being denied access to public landmarks that are supposed to belong to the people. The government doesn’t see it that way anymore – it’s all just a “damn game” and the folks running the Capitol are just toying with the American people. That’s right – public memorials, monuments and parks remained open under President Clinton and the Republican Congress in 1995/96, causing one to wonder how much inconvenience and financial hardship this partial government shutdown...