Park rangers ordered to keep visitors out of privately run businesses...

The National Park Service has closed privately run marinas, restaurants and inns throughout the country and in some cases even posted guards to keep people from using them during the government shutdown, arguing that it doesn’t have the money, manpower or authority to let them operate.

But the moves, which likely have thrown thousands of people out of work, are drawing scrutiny from Congress and don’t rest well with many voters who believe the administration is making the effects of the shutdown worse than necessary.

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SEE ALSO: Debt fight to escalate shutdown showdown; Boehner attaches Obamacare strings

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On Friday, the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina decided it would buck the Park Service’s order and remain open — only to find park rangers come and block the driveway to the inn to prevent anyone from entering. The parkway itself remained open, but the administration said all concessions in national parks must shut.

“I’m questioning their authority to shut me,” Pisgah Inn owner Bruce O’Connell told The Washington Times on Friday as he fought to stay open.

Several congressional committees have said they would look into the Park Service’s decisions, accusing the Obama administration of trying to make the shutdown as painful as possible for Americans.

In the meantime, Americans across the country have embraced the chance to flout the closures as a defiant act of civil disobedience.

The Internet has been flooded with photos of people going around traffic cones and vehicle barricades to get to parking lots, bicycle paths and hiking trails.

Still, campgrounds, ski areas and basic services have been closed at all parks, the monuments the Park Service runs in Washington have been barricaded, and rangers are doing their best to keep folks away.

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SEE ALSO: Treasury Secretary Jack Lew: Obama can’t stop default if debt ceiling is hit

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In Philadelphia, the park closures have shuttered the City Tavern.

On Cape Cod, the Nauset Knoll Motor Lodge is closed.

But not all private companies on park land have been shut down. Two high-profile places in San Francisco, the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco Maritime National Park and Cavallo Point, a luxury hotel in Golden Gate National Park, are open.

The Park Service says those are operating under lease agreements rather than as concessions, which means they are allowed to stay open.

“Concessions operations are required to close; leases are permitted to remain open,” Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the parks, said in an email to The Washington Times.

The discrepancies are difficult for some to understand.

One man wondered why Skyline Drive, the road running through Shenandoah National Park, was closed but the Blue Ridge Parkway remained open.

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Park rangers ordered to keep visitors out of privately run businesses...

Memorial circus outrages visitors...

Barricades set up on the first day of the shutdown drew the wrath of vets. | John Shinkle/POLITICO

A somber memorial has been turned into a political sideshow this week — and tempers are rising.

The World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., has become a victim of the government shutdown, drawing attention-hungry lawmakers (and the media) throughout the week to a quiet place where respect is paid to honor those who had died serving their country — and the commotion is frustrating veterans and the volunteers who help them.

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“I’m pissed off,” said Gary Kelch, a furloughed federal employee and a veteran who was visiting the memorial. “It’s all just political theatrics. I don’t mind being furloughed if it gets attention [from Congress]. I’m good with losing a couple weeks of pay. But this is disgusting.”

(Also on POLITICO: GOP: Why are monuments closed?)

Barricades set up on the first day of the government shutdown drew the wrath of vets from around the country who had come to visit. That quickly became fodder for Republican lawmakers seeking to use the closure to cast blame on President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, though members of both parties were at the memorial this week, greeting veterans and posing for photographs.

“I think it’s trashy politics if a politician is coming down to get publicity at a memorial that they have closed. I’m talking about both sides,” said Colonel Al Appling, a Vietnam War veteran visiting with his wife, Joan, from Miramar Beach, Fla.

Indeed, several members have visited to specifically meet with constituent veterans who were in town. Honor Flight, a group that brings veterans to D.C., frequently reaches out to lawmakers’ offices to let them know veterans will be visiting. But in the days since the shutdown, the memorial has been used in a far more public and political context.

“It was really disturbing to see congressmen out here grandstanding, using this as a political device when it was in fact Congress — the House — that was responsible for the shutdown,” said Dave Smith, a furloughed EPA employee who was visiting the memorial Friday.

(Also on POLITICO: Palin: ‘Barrycades’ at WWII Memorial)

Others believe that all the attention being paid to the memorial is a distraction from the lack of action in Congress to end the shutdown that resulted in the closure of the memorial to begin with.

“Oh yeah, they’re going to show up, they want to make themselves look like they care and they’re doing something. What are they doing?” said Gary Gillest, a Vietnam veteran who has visited D.C. several times with his friends in the Charlie Company 25th Infantry Division. “And look, there are tea party activists over there! I mean, they’re idiots.”

“They just want to get re-elected,” said Thomas Lepisto, who was traveling with the same group as Gillest.

Ken Belcher, who served in the Navy for six years and was in town visiting from Jackson, N.H., also voiced his belief that politics had no place at the memorial.

“This is my dad’s place, he was a vet. This is their place,” he said. “The politics of this is horrible.”

His father-in-law, John Wright, a 91-year-old WWII veteran, is also frustrated by the political use of the monument.

“This belongs to us, not them,” Wright said.

The memorial was opened in 2004, taking about 11 years to complete from its authorization in 1993 to its completion. The total cost of the project was about $ 182 million dollars, and it attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.

D.C. resident John Aucott, who was at the memorial Tuesday when the first veterans moved the barricades, agreed that the political visits to the site and photo-ops are in bad taste.

“I’m so disgusted with that,” he told POLITICO. “I think the politicians who showed up here have some audacity.”

Aucott came back to the memorial Wednesday with a sign: “Our vets did their job. Congress, please do yours.”

“I’m being silent. I’m not shouting,” he said, explaining that his intention was not to disrupt the veterans’ visits. “I just want to send a message to Congress, since they’re here, that they have a responsibility to fix this.”

Kelly Opdahl, a D.C. resident and volunteer with Honor Flight, expressed her displeasure with the commotion at the memorial. She noted that a group of vets from Illinois visiting earlier this week was trying to steer clear of politics.

“Today’s about them. It’s about the veterans,” she said.

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Memorial circus outrages visitors...

Yosemite visitors urged to leave

Ari Bloomekatz
LA Times
Oct. 1, 2013

As Congress failed to agree on a budget and President Obama’s healthcare law, parts of the federal government have started shutting down, with stoppages felt by Southern California residents and across the nation.

One of the most jarring repercussions is the impending closure of 401 national parks that include Yosemite and Joshua Tree, among others.

“Anyone who’s hoping to arrive, even for a day visit, would see gates closed and would be turned away,” said Mike Litterst, a spokesman for the National Park Service. “There won’t be any access.”

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This article was posted: Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 10:47 am

Tags: business, entertainment, environment, financial, government corruption, money

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Yosemite visitors urged to leave

Hold The Hot Dog: National Park Visitors Can Feast On Bison Burgers

Stefan Larrson serves up bison sloppy Joes and juniper-smoked bison tenderloin, which will be offered at the Yellowstone National Park this summer. Each park will have different menus featuring local foods.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

The director of the National Park Service doesn’t have anything against hot dogs or pizza being served in eateries in national parks.

“But I wanted more options, and more healthy choices,” Jonathon Jarvis told me at a tasting event this week to unveil new standards for the concessionaires who operate more than 250 food and beverage operations in national parks.

“There is no reason that you should have to take a vacation from eating well when you visit a national park,” Jarvis told a group that had gathered on the National Mall to sample some of the most innovative new menu options.

As Jarvis announced details of the initiative, the crowd was distracted by the wafting aromas of sauteing crab cakes, a creation of chef Steven Sterritt of Skyland Resort in Shenandoah National Park.

“These are fresh jumbo lump Maryland crab with a roasted garlic béchamel sauce. … It’s pure crab, no filler at all,” Sterritt told me. Wow. That’s a far cry from fried chicken tenders.

Enlarge image i

Jonathon Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, announced a new initiative to offer more healthful food choices at national parks starting this summer.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

Jonathon Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, announced a new initiative to offer more healthful food choices at national parks starting this summer.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

And instead of fries or potato chips, there were house chips made from beets and other vegetables.

“We are changing to a healthier fare, of course,” Stefan Larrson of Yellowstone National Park told us as he served up things I’d never seen in national parks before.

“This is bison tenderloin,” served with a dollop of horseradish sauce, Larrson told us. “Bison is flavorful and lean meat.” Also on the menu: regional huckleberries, a rhubarb gazpacho, and a brie-style cheese produced in the Yellowstone region.

“So are park visitors surprised to see these kinds of dishes?” I asked. “Yes, I think so,” Larrson told me. But folks are also usually impressed to find all the regional cuisine and the fresh approach, he says.

Turns out there’s only one flop, so far. Apparently, park visitors are not too keen for his take on ostrich meat. Hmmm. Perhaps the pace of change can come too fast.

The new standards are based, in part, on changes already in place in parks like Yellowstone, where concessions are run by Xanterra. As part of its Healthy and Sustainable Cuisine program, the company has pledged to adhere to naturally raised meats, cheeses from regional farms, no high-fructose corn syrup and baked goods sweetened with 30 percent less sugar than traditional preparations.

To usher in the new Park Service food initiative, the White House sent over Sam Kass of the Let’s Move campaign, who noshed on an almond-crusted baked chicken with a fennel salad.

“You know, baked is the new fried, so that looks delicious,” he told the chef.

Kass told the group that the new initiative is “an important step towards making the healthier choice, the easy choice for parents and kids.”

And after tasting the baked chicken, thumbs up?

Enlarge image i

Low-fat yogurt parfaits with berries are currently sold in kiosks along the National Mall in D.C. The version served at the tasting event came topped with cinnamon wonton crisps.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

Low-fat yogurt parfaits with berries are currently sold in kiosks along the National Mall in D.C. The version served at the tasting event came topped with cinnamon wonton crisps.

Maggie Starbard/NPR

“Absolutely delicious!” Kass said, congratulating the chefs from Guest Services, Inc and Aramark, two additional companies that operate park concessions. “That’s really innovative.”

Aramark’s vice president for food and beverage, Brian Stapelton, told us that his company has worked with regional wholesalers to procure more local produce and meat.

And how does the new, healthful park food initiative influence the bottom line of the companies serving up the food?

Well, Rick Abramson, president of Delaware North, which has a contract to run eateries at Shenandoah National Park, didn’t hold back in answering me when I asked.

“We’re a commercial company, and we’re in this to make money,” he told me.

Abramson says there’s demand for these new options. “What the market wants is what we deliver.”

So does this new initiative mean park visitors will pay more? Not for basic concession-stand foods like pizza or ice cream, which will be staying on the menu.

But the Park Service says even the newer, fancier offerings will still be affordable.

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Hold The Hot Dog: National Park Visitors Can Feast On Bison Burgers