Ideas. Stories. Community.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Donate during KSJD's Spring Fund Drive and you could win a Super73 E-Bike! Click here to donate NOW.

Local Federal Employees Return to Work After Shutdown

Wayne Hsieh
/
Creative Commons
Services at Mesa Verde National Park, such as the Chapin Mesa Museum, were limited Monday due to the partial government shutdown.

National parks and federal agencies in the Four Corners have resumed normal operations following a three-day government shutdown. The shutdown ended Monday when Congress voted for a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through February 9th. Mesa Verde National Park, which had remained open but with very limited services, is now back to its regular winter schedule. The same is true for Grand Canyon National Park, which was able to offer limited visitor services during the shutdown thanks to donations from the State of Arizona and the Grand Canyon Association. The impact of the brief budget impasse was far-reaching. On Monday, it prevented representatives of the San Juan National Forest, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and the Bureau of Land Management’s Tres Rios Field Office from making a scheduled appearance at the regular meeting of the Montezuma County Commission.

Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal, and was the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.