BUT WHO ORDERED IT?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Oct. 16, 2013) — The director of the National Parks Service is testifying as of press time about the closing of national parks and memorials.
When asked if closing memorials and parks is routine during a government shutdown, Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said, “No.”
When questioning Jarvis, Rep. Stewart affirmed that Jarvis was testifying “as a result of a subpoena.” Jarvis said he “volunteered to come” but has “no staff” which he needed to help “prepare testimony.” Jarvis said that the shutdown has impacted the Washington, DC area significantly.
Jarvis said that entering into “very simple agreements” with several states to reopen national parks provides a “template” to work through present and future government shutdowns. Jarvis said he opposed the “states themselves” assuming the operation of national parks.
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) praised Jarvis and criticized “Republicans” for “shutting down the government.” She asked Jarvis if “about 2,000 cases of vandalism” occurred every day at War Memorials, to which Jarvis answered in the affirmative.
She said that veterans have been made into “poster children” during the shutdown, which began on October 1 after the two chambers of Congress failed to come to an agreement on appropriations.
Norton asked Jarvis if “the shutdown will have lasting effects on international visitation,” which Lisa Simon, President of the National Tour Association, answered in the affirmative.
Rep. John Duncan, who represents eastern Tennessee, said that schoolchildren were not able to ride the bus home on one day because of a park closure. Duncan said that the barricades at war memorials showed that the National Park Service exaggerated the shutdown for political reasons.
Rep. Louis Gohmert said he was told by a park ranger that normally “four” rangers patrol the memorials on the National Mall, but there were nine present on one day when veterans were visiting and that “World War II veterans were not being allowed in.” “That is not hearsay…I was there,” Gohmert said.
Rep. Davis began by saying that “House Republicans” have caused the shutdown. He asked Jarvis if he “did not provide the sensitivity” necessary to his “decisions” made about closing national parks. Jarvis said that after the shutdown began, he conducted outreach to tourist organizations “to convey our concern” and what they could do during the shutdown. He said he made efforts to negotiate the reopening of the Grand Canyon and other sites ‘”to reduce the impact to the tourism industry.”
Jarvis has been serving for 40 years.
Gohmert asked Anna Eberly, Managing Director of Claude Moore Colonial Farm, how she learned of the shutdown. She said she received a phone call the day before. Gohmert asked Eberly if she were aware of any “threats” that the farm might have presented to staying open, to which she said, “No.” Gohmert said that he had “heard” that the McLean, VA Chamber of Commerce had paid to use the farm for a business meeting on October 1, which Eberly affirmed. She said the tourist spot has never been closed during a shutdown and has no federal employees.
Eberly said that a park ranger told the Chamber of Commerce attendees at its October 1 meeting to leave and that she never received any notification in writing of the closure of the Claude Moore Farm, which was barricaded by a “park maintenance crew.”
Eberly said that maintenance crews had been “helpful” in 1981 to the farm and had fixed a broken water line “nine years ago,” but that normally barricades are not brought to the farm, which is on “federally-owned” land.
It has been reported that Senior White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett is responsible for the shutdown, which has affected approximately 17% of the government.
Jarvis was asked how difficult it is for his employees who are furloughed and still on the job. He said that the employees “enjoy” their work but have had to “turn people away because of the shutdown.”
“I’ve instructed my law enforcement folks to take a very low-key approach…to stand back and just inform the American public that these places are closed,” Jarvis testified.
Chairman of the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa, referenced a letter from 1995 when the parks were shut down and an agreement with the state of Arizona was made to reopen the Grand Canyon.
Rep. Lamborn told Jarvis that he “helped move the barricades” during the early days of the shutdown, calling them “reprehensible.” He said that one of the World War II veterans he spoke with was 96 years old and fought in the Pacific Theater.
Lamborn, who is from Colorado, asked Jarvis about “reimbursement to the states” until the “government slowdown” is over. Jarvis responded that the states deposit “a set amount” into the U.S. Treasury and that the NPS charges admission for entry into the parks. He said he cannot take federal dollars and provide it to the states without congressional approval.
“We made it very clear in each of these agreements…that they’re going to get this money back,” Jarvis said, referring to the states.
Rep. Gerald Connolly asked Eberly whose decision it was to close the Claude Moore Farm, where Connolly has visited “on many occasions.” Eberly said it was a supervisor who did not provide an explanation for why the farm was closed.
Connolly asked Jarvis how he made decisions about closing any of the 401 national parks in the country. He explained that the Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits the opening of any facilities which are not required for the protection of life and property. He cited millions of dollars which have been given to the Claude Moore Farm. He said that he has kept locations open on “legal” grounds. Connolly complimented Jarvis on his service and “disavowed” Lamborn’s alleged comments denigrating Jarvis.
Issa asked Jarvis if he remembered testifying to the committee in April, to which he said, “Yes.” Issa then accused Jarvis of going back on a “promise to deliver documents related to discovery” and said he will be “issuing a subpoena” for documents “related to our accusation of previous abuse under sequestration.” “Whose land is it?” Issa asked, asking Jarvis to “think carefully” before he answered.
“Do you have an obligation to deliver to the best of your ability…?” He demanded of Jarvis if it were true that Eberly’s operation saved the American people money. “You spent money to barricade…” he said angrily to Jarvis of his barricading of the Moore Farm.
He asked Jarvis of plans made for a government shutdown and said that Jarvis was aware that memorials were not closed in previous shutdowns. “You had a history and a tradition…why did you not talk to the mayor’s people or representatives…why were those contracts not dusted off in preparation…and why did you cause Ms. Eberly to lose money…you and I know that that road maintenance is being deferred,” Issa said.
Jarvis then said he looked at the documents from the Grand Canyon to then decide which parks should be closed. Issa demanded to know if Jarvis could have left the Moore Farm open because all that was closed was “a parking lot.”
Jarvis said he is making decisions to reopen some parks. Issa told Jarvis that Jarvis’s claim that he overlooked “the Grand Canyon” “is not credible.”
Rep. Tsongas said that “the Park Service has been very cooperative and very polite” regarding veterans’ visits to the memorials. However, barricades were set up which had to be moved or the wires cut for the veterans to access them.
The barricades have been nicknamed “Barry-cades” or “Barackades,” invoking their association with Barack Obama, who has refused to negotiate on the items which House Republicans insist must be changed to come to an agreement to reopen the government completely.
Tsongas decried that it is unfortunate that the national parks are closed, that veterans may not be able to access educational benefits, and that federal employees are afraid that they will not receive their back pay.
Millions of American have been out of work since the 2007 economic collapse.
Rep. Walberg said that he is tired of “government by crisis” and accused the Democrats of orchestrating the current shutdown. He said he is concerned about “the pain that has been put on the private sector economy,” citing Eberly, tourist associations, and “other private concessionaires.” Walberg has a degree in forestry and decried “an economy that has gone to a part-time economy” because of Obamacare and lower incomes. “I’m sick of hearing of this shutdown being called anything other than a Democrat shutdown,” Walberg said. He said that a total of 14 bills have been introduced by the House to reopen various parts of the government, specifically, a bill to restart WIC, which he said was rejected by the Senate along with the other bills.
Jarvis said he has opened a number of sites which “do not require our support” and do not violate the Anti-Deficiency Act. Walberg said he believes that the shutdown was carried out to coerce Americans to support certain policies.
Rep. Horsford said that veterans have been “welcomed” to the war memorials by the park rangers and that they were not “treated with disrespect.” He thanked Jarvis for his service and asked him if his people would like to resume their duties, to which Jarvis said his employees would like to “get back to work.” Horsford blamed the Republicans for the shutdown.
Rep. Wittman said that “Preservation Virginia” which operates the historical Jamestown, VA site was closed, unlike in 1995. Jarvis deferred to someone else because he “wasn’t there in 1995.” He said that he didn’t expect the shutdown to “last this long” and had to evaluate whether or not keeping a location open would violate the Anti-Deficiency Act. “It is certainly not our intent to drag these things out,” Jarvis said, referencing attorneys which had to be consulted.
Wittman asked if there was a “contingency plan” for government shutdowns, to which Jarvis said that “now” there is a “template agreement” and “lessons learned.”
Rep. Huffman, who said he is a freshman in Congress, said he is “ashamed” to be taking part in the hearing, which he equated to “looting while Rome burns.” Huffman said that media reports about “nefarious contentions” by NPS employees to inflict pain on Americans are false. “There is zero evidence…” He said if the hearing were a court, a judge would issue sanctions against them. “This is a kangaroo court,” he said.
Huffman said that the National Parks Service oversees “a wonderful success story.” He praised Jarvis and thanked him for his service, citing the “baseless accusations” from other members as being undignified. “It is a disgrace,” Huffman said. He cited “terrible politics” for having caused the shutdown.
Rep. Gosar asked Mayor Greg Bryan of the Town of Tusayan, AZ if it were true that Jarvis had “immediately reach out out to local communities.” Bryan said it was not true; Jarvis said that he called someone involved in the 1995 shutdown regarding the Grand Canyon.
Gosar asked about contingency plans and said that the NPS was “unprepared” for the shutdown, with ten days of “No, no, no and no.”
Jarvis agreed to turn over emails and phone logs regarding his decisions on the shutdown.
Rep. Shea-Porter of New Hampshire apologized for the committee hearing, saying “We shouldn’t be talking like this.” “I am very, very upset about this,” she said. To Jarvis, she said, “You didn’t shut down the government; they did,” indicating the Republicans. She said her state was adversely affected by the shutdown because of the fall foliage season in which tourism is down. She said that the committee hearing has had “nasty tones” and lacked “civility.”
Rep. Tom McClintock spoke next and object to Shea-Porter’s statements. When Shea-Porter asked McClintock to yield, he said, “No, I will not.”
McClintock began to ask Jarvis a question, after which Shea-Porter interrupted again on a “Point of Order” and claimed that McClintock had accused her of lying. The chairman gave the floor back to McClintock, who then asked Jarvis if he “ordered the barricading” of national parks. Jarvis said he instructed the “closure of all national parks.”
McClintock related a story from a constituent who said he cannot get to work because the road he normally takes is blocked off by the NPS. The constituent said that during 1995, park land and roads “were still accessible.” “By what authority did your people barricade” parks and other locations, McClintock asked. Jarvis said that “lead-to” roads were closed and that they impeded access to people’s private property.
McClintock asked how “life and property” are impacted by people taking photos of parks from a public parking area.
Jarvis said “federal appropriations” fund the upkeep of such locations. Mr. Myron Ebell, Director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, testified that Jarvis and “these kinds of people” in government have been acting punitively against the American people.
Rep. Meehan asked Jarvis if he can lift citations and other penalties given out to citizens during the shutdown, citing Jarvis’s prosecutorial discretion. Jarvis said he cannot rescind traffic tickets. Meehan stated that citizens have a right to be “out in the open” in parks and that Jarvis did not provide proper notice of parks’ closures in local newspapers.
Jarvis said that “all of the national parks are closed to First Amendment activities” according to his “closure orders.” The First Amendment has been cited as the reason to allow veterans in to their memorials in Washington, DC. Meehan was clearly angry at Jarvis that he would “make [citizens] go to court over a ticket for $100?”
Rep. Cartwright said that the NPS is “following the law” and should not be blamed for the shutdown.