National Parks Remain Open Through Mid-November

Above, Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The compromise funding agreement will allow the national parks to remain open, at least through mid-November.

According to National Parks Traveler:

An 11th-hour compromise Saturday averted a shutdown of the federal government for at least 45 days, allowing the National Park System to remain open through one of the most popular tourist seasons of the year.

With the agreement, reached by the House on Saturday afternoon, approved by the Senate that evening, and sent to President Biden for his signature, the Congress bought time to try to come to terms on government funding for Fiscal 2024, which opens October 1. As a result, the National Park System will remain open at least through mid-November, allowing for Fat Bear Week to run at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, enabling leaf-peepers to flock to the hardwood forests of Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, and Acadia national parks to marvel at fall's vibrant coat of leaves, and allowing tens of thousands of sky gazers to flock to the National Park System from Oregon through Texas to catch the annular solar eclipse on October 14.

Just in case an agreement on the Continuing Resolution wasn't reached, officials in Utah and Arizona were prepared to keep national parks in their states open with state funding, and Colorado officials were working to do the same.

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