‘Freedom to flout the rules.’ BASE jumpers, others flock to Yosemite as rangers furlough
Yosemite National Park has seen an influx of extreme sports activity, daredevil stunts and general rule-breaking as the government shutdown enters its third week, leaving National Parks across the country open but only with skeleton crews.
Multiple reports and circulating social media posts indicate visitors have taken part in unpermitted BASE jumping and cliff scaling, entered sections of the park without a permit, and camped illegally since park rangers and other workers were furloughed as Congress failed to approve a budget for the new fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Officials from Yosemite National Park did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Fresno Bee.
Rock climber Charles Winstead posted two videos on Instagram, one on Oct. 7 and the other on Oct. 12, from Yosemite of base jumpers in the park.
One of the videos shows jumpers parachuting off the peak of El Capitan.
Winstead’s Instagram caption reads: “More base jumpers! Definitely feeling some freedom to flout the rules due to the shut down. Second group today.”
BASE jumping, an acronym formed from the words, building, antenna, span (bridge) and earth (cliff), has been banned in all national parks since the 1980s, though Yosemite historically has been a popular spot for the extreme sport.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the park service, defines BASE jumping as “the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, including artificial structures and natural features, using a parachute to descend to the ground. Additional equipment, like wing-suits, may be included in a BASE jump, however a parachute is still required for landing.”
It’s unclear the exact number of federal employees who remain on duty at Yosemite under the shutdown. Park gates are open, although staff is not in place and entry fees are not being collected.
According to the NPS contingency plan, staff that is kept on will perform only exempted duties such as law enforcement or emergency response, border and coastal protection and surveillance and fire suppression and monitoring.
Overall, NPS staff set to be furloughed amounts to 64% of employees.
According to Yosemite’s website, the park concessionaire, Yosemite Hospitality, will continue to operate, and food and lodging services are available. Additionally, roads, trails, campgrounds and sanitation facilities are accessible, although some National Park Service facilities may be closed or limited.
The National Parks Conservation Association urged all National Parks to close ahead of the shutdown in a press release, and say leaving them open could cause irreparable damage to parks and leave visitors confused.
In a 2018 shutdown from Dec. 22-Jan. 25, the Trump administration also left national parks partially open. Some workers were furloughed and some facilities closed, but mostly unsupervised visitors were still allowed to enter. As a result, the parks suffered vandalism that took years to correct. In some cases, the damage was irreversible.
If public access with limited staffing begins to pose a safety, health or resource issue, the area must close, the contingency plan specifies. At Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks during the 2018 shutdown, human waste and trash issues reached levels so problematic that the parks were eventually forced to close.
Cases of chopped-down Joshua trees, which can be more than a century old, were reported at Joshua Tree National Park. Prehistoric petroglyphs were vandalized and irreparably damaged at Big Bend National Park. At Death Valley National Park, campgrounds were kept open, but restrooms were closed, leading to sanitation issues. Plus, many parks suffered damage to infrastructure from illegal off-roading, according to the release.
Those visiting the park under the government shutdown are strongly urged to practice “Leave no Trace” principles and help protect the park’s resources by following the nature rules guidelines, the Yosemite website says.