We’re on day 14 of the Federal government shutdown and the effects are starting to become, well, a little messy.
National Parks are not being maintained due to the closure of the Department of the Interior. Here in the Richmond District, that includes Lands End and Ocean Beach.
On Friday, the SF Department of Public Works posted some photos of garbage cans at Lands End that they had pitched in to maintain in lieu of federal oversight.
“Due to the federal #GovernmentShutdown, we sent our cleaning crews to Lands End national parkland today to help clear garbage from the trailheads,” they wrote on Facebook. They also attached signs to the cans alerting visitors that due to the shutdown, they should be mindful of packing out their garbage.
In case you’re wondering about Ocean Beach, the cans there are maintained by San Francisco City thanks to a confusing initiative the National Parks Service embarked on in 2015 to remove all garbage cans from the beach in hopes that people would pack out their trash. It didn’t work, of course but the NPS dug in their heels and refused to reinstate the cans.
In 2017, Supervisor Sandra Fewer finally got cans added back to Ocean beach, which are regularly serviced by the city. Crisis averted.
Anyone who had special event permits for Lands End or Ocean Beach in the last 14 days would have had to cancel their events.
No word on when the federal government shutdown will end. Know of other ill effects int he neighborhood due to the shutdown? Leave a comment to let us know.
Sarah B.
Tried to hike out at Point Bonita last week. The gate to the lighthouse is locked.