That shutdown lasted 35 days and was over December and January, when visitor levels are usually at their lowest. 158 on the first day before cones were put in place to block the driveway. Vehicles filled the entrance gate area along U.S. The gates were still closed to areas like the Wright Brothers National Memorial, but that didn’t stop visitors from trying to access the grounds in Kill Devil Hills. Closed sign in 2019 on Cape Hatteras National Seashore. In part, that approach relied on visitor fees, which an independent federal oversight agency said was likely illegal. In 20, under Republican Donald Trump, most parks remained at least partially open with services reduced. Nationally, the 16-day 2013 shutdown resulted in a loss of $2.4 million to the Outer Banks economy alone, according to a 2014 NPS report cited by the Congressional Research Service. 12 to the old Cape Hatteras Lighthouse site. The closure spurred a protest in Buxton, with 100 to 150 people marching from N.C. The First Flight, Billy Mitchell and Ocracoke airstrips were shut down. Park roads to the Cape Hatteras and Bodie Island lighthouses, beach access parking areas, and off-road vehicle ramps were blocked. That full closure happened when the fall fishing season was in high gear and large numbers of sea turtle nests were inside their hatch windows from Coquina Beach to Ocracoke Inlet.Ĭoncessionaires like Avon Pier and Oregon Inlet Fishing Center were initially not allowed to operate, but reopened two weeks later. In 2013, under Democratic President Barack Obama, the three park facilities were shuttered and visitors were told to leave during the partial government shutdown that lasted 16 days. However, the Interior Department took different approaches to visitor access in each shutdown under presidents of different parties. The National Park Service furloughed about seven out of every eight workers during shutdowns in October 2013 and December 2018-January 2019, according to a report last week from the Congressional Research Service. With no federal government spending plan or continuing resolution in place, parks would lack the regular funds used for daily operations, NC Newsline reports.

The Department of the Interior’s preparations for a shutdown are not available online, as The White House webpage link is dead to a plan dating back to 2017. The NCBBA orchestrated a beach cleanup to keep the seashore clean during the shutdown in 2019. National Park Service officials have not been able to comment on what their plans are if the shutdown happens starting this Sunday morning. It would be the third shuttering of most federal government operations in the last decade. The timing for a shutdown couldn’t be worse for visitors and locals who enjoy the activities available at the National Park Service Outer Banks Group’s three parks: Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial, and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. on Saturday, the impacts on the Outer Banks’ most visible federal agency – the National Park Service – will depend on how long the Congressional impasse lasts and whether steps are taken by The White House to limit what operations and services have to be stopped. President Biden signed the bill into law prior to the end of the fiscal year on Saturday night that, among other things, puts on hold a potential closure of the three national parks located on the Outer Banks.Īs another government shutdown looms at 11:59 p.m.

House and Senate have approved a continuing resolution that funds federal government operations through November 17. Story by Sam Walker, WOBX and Joy Crist, Island Free Press Closed sign at Ocracoke Visitor Center during 2019 shutdown.

Seashore water park hours