Park officials say Maine’s most popular state park will remain open through Sunday should the government shutdown this weekend.
Amanda Pollock, the park’s public information officer, told the BDN Saturday that the park won’t close its gates tomorrow in the event of a shutdown, but the future beyond this weekend is unclear.
“Right now we are fully funded through Sunday,” Pollock said. “Operations are continuing as normal and according to the Department ofInteriors contingency, tomorrow will be operations as normal as well.”
“Apart from that we are still reviewing guidance,” Pollock added. “We’re just waiting to see what happens from Congress at this point”
Officials have closed the park during prior shutdowns because, with most rangers and services off duty, it would take more time for help to arrive in the event of an emergency. The last time the park closed for an extensive period of time was in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.