The seeming incongruity of boiling waters next to almost bitterly cold waters is commonplace in Yellowstone in the West Thumb Geyser Basin, where you can gaze across Abyss Pool out to Yellowstone Lake.
Yellowstone National Park
Despite the estimated loss of $76 million a day, the furlough of more than 20,000 federal and non-profit employees, and the ruination of countless vacations, 94 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives want to know how many rangers it takes to keep the World War II Memorial on the National Mall closed.October 9, 2013 Letter to Director Jarvis.pdf
Around the country, as the partial government shutdown moves into its second week, taxpayers angry with the closure of national parks are showing their disgust through civil disobedience, mockery, and anger directed at the National Park Service.
As the government shutdown drags into its second week, there are increasing risks of vandalism in the National Park System and possibly even poaching, according to past National Park Service personnel.
How much is the closure of the National Park System costing the country in daily economic stimulus? According to figures calculated by Climate Progress, right around $76 million.
As the partial shutdown of the federal government moved past its third day, the National Park System remained closed, but news surrounding the parks didn't end. A glance around the system shows hard times for lodging concessions, a particularly outspoken congressman, and ongoing energy production in some parks.
The Albright Visitor Center in Yellowstone National Park is housed in one of the old buildings built when the military occupied the park in the very early 1900s. As such, engineers didn't think much about earthquakes.
There are the obvious impacts tied to the closure of the National Park System due to the partial government shutdown: guests forced to leave the parks, gateway communities losing business, concessions operations in flux.
Once-in-a-lifetime trips to majestic places such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone crumbled Tuesday as Congress's failure to avert a shutdown of the federal government interrupted countless vacation plans as closure gates came down across the National Park System.