Ex-Obama Interior official warns against keeping national parks open during shutdown

A former Interior Department official warned on Friday of the dangers of leaving U.S. parks open during the partial government shutdown. Tim Fullerton, who served as Interior’s director of digital strategy in the Obama administration, worked in the department during the 2013 government shutdown. "As someone who worked @interior during the shutdown in [2013], let me tell you how dangerous this is," he tweeted. “If someone falls, gets lost, or has any issue in a National Park or wildlife refuge, they’re on their own,” he added. Fullerton wrote that many House Republicans called his office to keep the parks open "because they knew the shutdown they created would hurt them at home." “They wanted police or sheriffs to man the parks with rangers on furlough. But they don’t know the area or terrain, so it’s still very dangerous to do that,” he wrote. “They’re playing with fire here and it’s incredibly unsafe.”...MORE

Oh my. This will be "dangerous" and "incredibly unsafe". It will be like "playing with fire", and worst of all, people will be "on their own". Imagine that, being "on your own" with no gov't officials around. Sounds like nirvana to me. Besides, most search and rescues are performed by private, nonprofit entities like Mesilla Valley Search and Rescue, with the able assistance of local law enforcement.  

It is amazing what some people will say to keep those federal funds flowing.