by Donald Wood
Last updated: 3:50 PM ET, Tue January 8, 2019
Travelers hoping to visit the Joshua Tree National Park will be turned away starting Thursday as the park is scheduled to close to the public during the partial government shutdown.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Joshua Tree National Park spokesman George Land said the lack of rangers on hand to keep people in line resulted in tourists driving vehicles off the pavement and even some of the Joshua trees being vandalized.
The 790,636-acre California park will temporarily close at 8 a.m. local time Thursday.
"The way it looks right now because of resources or lack thereof, we have about eight rangers that oversee a large park, we will remain closed until appropriations are put into place to reopen," Land told the LA Times. "Law enforcement rangers will continue to patrol the park and enforce the closure until park staff completes the necessary cleanup and park protection measures."
When the partial government shutdown began three weeks ago, volunteers helped clean up toilets and overflowing trash cans. As a result, the decision was made on a national level to close the park to visitors until rangers and other employees were back on the job.
Travelers who planned a visit to Joshua Tree National Park and made camping reservations with Recreation.gov will receive a refund due to the temporary closure.
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