DENVER — Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) has issued an executive order with the aim of keeping Colorado's national parks open in the event of a government shutdown.
The order directs the Colorado Department of Natural Resources to work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to develop a plan for continued operations and resource protection of Colorado's four national parks and federal lands through a federal shutdown and submit the plan to the governor's office.
The order cites the potential economic impact of shutting down the four parks: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. It says more than 5.5 million people visited the four parks in 2022, with visitors spending more than $695 million.
The order says the 2013 federal government shutdown resulted in 7.88 million fewer visits to America's national parks with a nationwide loss of $414 million in revenue during the 16-day shutdown.
“Our state is proud to be home to world-class outdoors, including four national parks, that play a key role in our economy and way of life," Polis said in a release. "Coloradans and millions of visitors every year — many of whom are looking forward to seeing the beautiful Fall colors — hike through trail systems and see the iconic natural wonders in our parks. Colorado’s beautiful national parks belong to the American people and help support our local communities and economy. The closure of the national parks and other federal lands would hurt state and local economies, small businesses, and park employees. My action today will help ensure national parks and federal lands will remain open through a potential shutdown and protects Colorado from the damage closing the parks would have. I urge the federal government to reach an agreement, and I am hopeful they will do so to avoid a shutdown,” said Governor Polis.
Congress is at an impasse just days before a disruptive federal shutdown that would halt paychecks for many of the federal government's roughly 2 million employees, as well as 2 million active-duty military troops and reservists, furlough many of those workers and curtail government services.
But the House and Senate are pursuing different paths to avert those consequences even though time is running out before government funding expires after midnight on Saturday.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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