Federal Employees Back to Work

The federal government shutdown is over – at least, through the middle of February.

President Donald Trump signed a bill Friday to reopen the government for three weeks, and now staff at our local National Parks say they are ready to get back to work.

The Bighorn Canyon Visitor Center at Lovell opened at noon on Saturday, January 26th. The visitor center is now open daily 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.  In a press release, Bighorn Canyon officials thanked the regular visitors to the park who cleaned up trash and kept a watchful eye on park resources during the shutdown.

Yellowstone National Park operations resumed yesterday, re-opening visitor centers and collecting entrance fees. Officials say that today, employees will begin to process the backlog of applications for special use permits, film permits, commercial use authorizations, and research permits. The public will also be able to obtain permits for the non-commercially-guided snowmobile access program.

The park asks for patience as employees work to reopen facilities and operations in a manner that is safe for them and the public. They say there is a lot of snow removal needed around buildings and safety checks that must be completed.

Yellowstone officials extended a special thank you to the concessioners who made donations during the shutdown enabling Park Service staff to groom roads and allow oversnow access to continue. They also thanked the local gateway communities and partners who provided support not only for the park, but also for Park Service staff and their families.