Grand Canyon

Do you have a source for your post?
I did not think the deal had been finalized with state of Arizona.

Link to entire story

"The Grand Canyon National Park will re-open Saturday under the terms of a deal Gov. Jan Brewer reached late Friday with federal officials.

The state will pay $651,000, covering a weeks’ worth of costs for re-opening the entire park."

Interesting they only where able to reach a deal for Grand Canyon and not the other National Parks in Az.

Kind of a waste if folks already canceled their plans, but the thought is well intended.

darsben wrote:
Interesting they only where able to reach a deal for Grand Canyon and not the other National Parks in Az.

The state of Arizona and businesses are picking up the tab for one week, then its anyones guess. I'll bet they would gladly accept any donation you would like contribute.

stickdog wrote:
Kind of a waste if folks already canceled their plans, but the thought is well intended.

At this time of year there is an average of 18,000 visitors per week.

Kinda wonder how many will go to the parks - both Utah and AZ - but it's usually at least half or more from other countries and other areas that enter the parks. And, it usually takes planning, not just hop in. SO, I really hope this works out for the states that jump this hurdle.

I imagine a lot of folks already cancelled their plans

We'd expect some revenue to cover at least part of that fee - what a mess!

Considering the state has to pay to run the park (for however long they agreed), no wonder all they could reopen was GCNP. On the other hand, if you can afford only one, why not go for the flagship in the state?

As for not bothering, this is high season for the southern Utah parks, and a pretty popular time for Grand Canyon too. Weather there these days is just about perfect, not too hot for hiking, etc.

Then the states should get to keep the receipts for the entrance fees,camping fees and concession fees.

We took a trip to the Smokies this past week and of course everything was closed and barricaded; they had nearly all the PULLOUTS blocked with traffic cones so you couldn't stop for a photo. I talked to a guy at a local business who told me he had family working for the US Park Service and they had received letters from a certain high ranking politician with official letterhead telling them about the shut down and that they should make things "as painful as possible" for the public. The state owned visitor centers, etc were open.