Utah is rushing to take an offer from Pres. Obama to reopen National Parks if they pay for it. He told them they would probably not be reimbursed. Utah is willingly paying the $1.65 million to reopen their five parks and plan to have them open as soon as Saturday., said one ranger at Zion. So far Gov. Brewer is not planning to pay the $122,000 a day for a full reopening of Grand Canyon National Park.
Utah's five National Parks include Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches and Capital Reef.
Utah wants to help their small communities that depend on their National Parks tourism and have been suffering since the closure. Other states are weighing options and New York is thinking about paying to reopen the Statue Of Liberty.
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t this time of year, the Grand Canyon draws about 18,000 people a day who pump an estimated $1 million a day into the local economy.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...The town of Tusayan, just outside the South Rim entrance, and area businesses have pledged $400,000 to help reopen the canyon, but Wilder said it was unclear if the Interior Department could accept private funds.
Interior Department spokesman Blake Androff said the government does not plan to reimburse states that pay to reopen parks.
Many other states South Dakota, Wyoming and Nevada say they do not have the money to reopen their parks.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said his state can't afford the cost of reopening parks when it is already facing critical funding decisions on dozens of programs, including food stamps, unemployment insurance and aid to women, infants and children.I’m of two minds about this. It smacks of letting some government open while others don’t have a choice. It is the piecemeal approach that Republicans have been pushing. On the other hand many small communities absolutely depend on the tourism and are being greatly affected.