Government shutdown closes gates to Glacier Park

The birds are still singing, the elk still bugling, but a federal government shutdown at midnight Monday effectively closed Glacier National Park to all but a select few people.

Campers had 48 hours to leave the Park, and visitors who showed up Tuesday were not allowed through the gates, Park spokeswoman Denise Germann said.

About 250 Park employees are on nonpay furlough because of the shutdown.

A “very” skeleton staff will be kept to patrol the boundary and monitor entrance stations, Germann said.

Some work will continue in the Park. The Going-to-the-Sun Road reconstruction project will continue because it’s funded through the Federal Highway Administration. Some weather research that requires daily monitoring also will continue.

The lodges, hotels and motels in Glacier Park have already closed for the season, and private inholders will still have access to their property, Germann said,

The Forest Service will see a similar reduction in staff, although Flathead National Forest spokeswoman Teresa Wenum said no state-specific plans were immediately available.

The government shutdown came to a head Monday as House Republicans and Senate Democrats squared off over the federal budget as the fiscal year drew to a close. Republicans want to defund or at least delay the Affordable Care Act for a year, but Democrats say forcing a shutdown is not following the appropriate legislative process.

For Glacier Park visitors, the shutdown comes at an inopportune time — this is the first fall in years that the Sun Road is open to motor vehicles on the west side all the way to Logan Pass.

Glacier typically hosts about 50,000-60,000 visitors during the month of October.

Weather closed the Sun Road at The Loop over the weekend, with more than eight inches of snow at Logan Pass, but the Park had plans to plow the road back to the pass once weather conditions improved.

On the plus side, according to the U.S. Postal Service, mail delivery will continue. Border patrol agents and air traffic controllers will also remain on the job, and Amtrak will continue to operate train service.

Social Security and Medicare benefits will also continue.