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Sheriff Offers to Save Rocky Mountain National Park From Shutdown

By New West, 4-08-11

	Sheriff Justin Smith offers to help Rocky Mountain National Park officials.

Update: Congressional leaders reached a deal and averted a shutdown late Friday.

With a government shutdown looming, officials at Rocky Mountain National Park are preparing to close the gates and shut down the park if the federal leaders fail to pass a budget. But Sheriff Justin Smith in neighboring Larimer County, which borders the north and east sides of the park, says he and his deputies can keep the park gates open.

“The citizens deserve access to their national park, and the merchants who depend on the visitors can count on the Sheriff’s Office to keep the park safe,” Smith announced Thursday. “The entrance stations may not be staffed to collect fees and hand out maps, but that shouldn’t stop visitors from being able to enjoy their park.”

Smith told The Denver Post the small business owners in neighboring Estes Park, Colorado, were a major factor in his plan:

“When politicians say the parks are closed, what that truly does (is) it takes merchants in a little town like Estes Park and it kills their business. … These are my constituents, and they’ve come through a tough recession. And for some game-playing in Washington, they’re shutting these people off; they’re killing them.”

But it’s not clear that the sheriff has the authority to keep the federal park property open to the public, RMNP spokesman Larry Frederick told Fort Collins Coloradoan reporter (and New West contributor) Bobby Magill. Frederick, who said Smith did not speak to park leaders before announcing his plan, noted that a small staff of rangers will continue to patrol the park during any closure.

National parks throughout the region—including Arches, Canyonlands, Glacier, Yellowstone and Carlsbad Caverns—are preparing to shut down if leaders fail to pass a budget today.

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