Posted on 10/04/2013 11:11:51 AM PDT by Rodamala
Planning to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather with a trip to the Allegheny National Forest?
Think again.
"We're in the process of closing down our campgrounds and developed facilities, due to the lapse in funding," Allegheny National Forest Supervisor Erin Connelly said on Thursday. "Where there are gates, they will be closed."
Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton
Closed
Rimrock overlook area in the Allegheny National Forest has been closed “due to the lapse in federal
government funding,” according to a sign posted at the gate. “The facility will reopen once Congress
restores funding.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesobserver.com ...
Like they can really stop someone from using the rest of the forest.
Anyone with a complaint about this should call 1-800-318-2596 (1-800-F**KYO) to complain.
..utterly ridiculous...what are they going to do if you're caught walking on the beach?
First Explanation in Writing As To Why USFS Is Closing Privately-Funded Parks. Coyote Blog (Dispatches from a Small Business), Warren Meyer, October 3, 2013.From our shutdown order:
Congress has not provided appropriations for fiscal year 2014. Pursuant to applicable legal requirements in the Antideficiency Act and Attorney General opinions addressing agency operations in the absence of appropriations, the Forest Service is unable to administer federally-owned recreation facilities. Consequently these facilities will be shut down and posted accordingly with signs provided, with gates locked where they exist, restrooms locked, and water systems shut down. Visitors in occupied sites would be given 48 hours to vacate, with the area shut down as the last visitor leaves, not to exceed 48 hours.
In other words, we pay all the bills, run the parks in an independent manner, have no USFS people stationed in the parks, but we have to shut down because the Forest Service can no longer "administer" the facilities. Huh? What day-to-day administration is necessary. Remember that the USFS itself did not think their presence was necessary, originally confirming on Tuesday that we would stay open as we had in all past shutdowns.
We often go weeks and months in these facilities without ever seeing a USFS manager. The USFS considers it so important to have staff available to "administer" these facilities that none of their recreation personnel work on weekends or on holidays, by far and away the busiest and most difficult times in these facilities.
PS- I see the part about the Attorney General. Did Eric Holder decide to close us? Doesn't he know that poor and minorities disproportionately use public vs. private recreation? Isn't that a disparate impact issue in closing us?
Obama trying to defund the fall foliage LOL
So... if they are blocking off the access to the parking lot, I suppose that you can park at the gate and walk in... but what if I am in a wheelchair? ADA lawsuit?
Harry made the Senate dems vote down the funds to open it yesterday.
Story didn’t mention that of course LOL!
Resist!
"The Antideficiency Act (ADA), Pub.L. 97–258, 96 Stat. 923, is legislation enacted by the United States Congress to prevent the incurring of obligations or the making of expenditures (outlays) in excess of amounts available in appropriations or funds. The law was initially enacted in 1884, with major amendments occurring in 1950 (64 Stat. 765) and 1982 (96 Stat. 923). It is now codified at 31 U.S.C. § 1341. The ADA prohibits the federal government from entering into a contract that is not "fully funded" because doing so would obligate the government in the absence of an appropriation adequate to the needs of the contract. This Act of Congress is sometimes known as Section 3679 of the Revised Statutes, as amended."
AND
"and Attorney General opinions ...
are combined to put up a barrier.
Thus;
an opinion and a fear of assuming more obligation is what is shutting these parks down.
From what I see and understand ... no LAW, no enforceable law ... is in play.
GO
TO
THE
PARK, y'all ...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do the bears know this?
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in the national forests, we shall fight on the national memorials, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our constitution, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!
If the employees are not allowed to do work, who locked the gate?
Do Pennsylvanians know this(the ones not from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton)? Could be some trouble.
What if a family were to drive up to a gate, pull the barriers aside ... and not enter ... but picnic outside on the entrance ... would someone come along and put the barrier back up ?
It's worse than that. The company that runs the campgrounds for the National Parks and Forests in the SW reports being forced to foot the bill for the Barrycades that threaten to put them out of business.
Go open any gate near enough to you and encourage others to do the same.
.utterly ridiculous...what are they going to do if you’re caught walking on the beach?
Who is going to catch you? Their shut down right?
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