Privately funded Colonial Farm is shut down...but is fighting back

Ace covered the NPS-forced closure of the privately funded, privately operated living history museum Claude Moore Colonial Farm. The Farm is fighting back. Managing director Anna Eberly says that the Farm is pursuing a legal remedy thanks to a generous volunteer. "We believe, according to our lease with the National Park Service, that we have both a right and a duty to be open to the public," she wrote to supporters. In a separate email, Eberly explained that the Farm's lease agreement "states that we will operate the Farm and open it to the public and the only thing [the NPS] will provide is police protection if needed."  Notably, the Farm hasn't relied on NPS police because Fairfax County PD is closer and more convenient.
Unlike federal employees, the Farm isn't going to get any money back when the shutdown is over. So far, according to Eberly, the Farm has lost $15,000 in operating income due to the shut down. That's from cancelled rentals, admissions, sales, and program fees. Today, the Farm has declared a "Freedom from Tyranny Colonial Rally" to take place in front of the Department of the Interior at noon...more