Well folks, I just woke up, opened my laptop and was greeted by very bolded words on my favorite news page: Shutdown. As you all know, we’re not a political blog here, but this is something we clearly need to address. And guess what? I have great news to share. Regardless of the shutdown, the Virgin Islands National Park will not be affected. Thank goodness!
I briefly chatted with Darrell Echols, the acting superintendent of the Virgin Islands National Park, last night in anticipation of the shutdown, and he assured me that the Park will remain open. He stated that the beaches and park in his areas will not close and that the particulars were still developing.
You may recall back in 2013 when we last had a government shutdown that the Park here was closed for five full days. During that time, parking lots were taped or barricaded off, and rangers asked people to leave the beaches. We also were not allowed to use any of the hiking trails. The Visitor’s Center, Annaberg and even the playground at the National Park dock were all closed. As you can imagine, none of this went over very well here on St. John where the majority of the island is National Park. Fortunately the VI National Park was reopened as an exception while the other National parks remained closed.
So again, the National Park here on St. John remains open and will stay open. So if you are lucky enough to be on island, go out and enjoy one of our beautiful beaches today. I know I will!
Have a great weekend everyone!
So nice to hear VINP isn’t part of this quagmire………..
Glad to hear it’s open…heading there tomorrow.