The government shutdown has made it to day 40, but Tucson’s Saguaro National Park West is still accessible thanks to Western National Parks, an Oro Valley-based nonprofit.
Saguaro West is one of about 70 parks that have received help from Western National Parks. Saguaro East remains mostly shut down as parking lot construction continues.
Western National Parks is funding two employee positions in the West district of Saguaro: one dedicated to maintenance and the other to the visitor center, where the park makes roughly 9% of its yearly revenue.
“Saguaro is accessible but what you’re going to find is minimum services. So you’re not gonna find rangers out and about on trails. You’re not gonna find multiple park rangers in the visitor center helping people or leading tours,” said Lauren Mooney, Western National Parks’ chief revenue officer and vice president of partnerships.
Like the rest of the National Park System, Saguaro is still grappling with the ongoing shutdown, which has forced thousands of visitors away and over 9,000 employees nationwide to be furloughed.
Mooney says the good news is that as Arizona parks enter a peak season, action at visitor centers will help sustain revenue for the short term.
“Thankfully, Arizona is entering its busy season, so from a revenue perspective, it is sustainable right now. But I can’t really speak to long term,” she said.
Western National Parks is also providing funding to keep open visitor centers at Montezuma Castle, Hubbell Trading Post and Chiricahua National Monument.
The Senate is set to vote later today on a bill that would end the current shutdown.
