The effects of the partial federal government shutdown are rippling across the Northwest. About 1,000 federally-funded Oregon National Guard members received furlough notices Tuesday, as did 850 Washington National Guardsmen and another 850 from Idaho.
Meanwhile, guests at hotels and campgrounds inside national parks have been told to leave by Thursday.
Large national parks like Mount Rainier are keeping skeleton crews on duty to maintain roads and historic buildings and redirect visitors. Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Patti Wold says it's no fun turning everyone away.
"We're here to serve the public, and we're not being allowed to do that. So it is very hard for all of us to not be able to have people come to this beautiful park and enjoy the public lands that they cherish,” said Wold.
German tourist Julian Schere and his group of three traveling companions took the first day of the government shutdown in stride. It became an excuse to skip a hike in the fog and rain. But he says the mood could sour if this drags on.
"Today it's not that big of a disappointment, but tomorrow for Mount St. Helens and for the other national parks it will be, yeah definitely,” Schere said Tuesday.
Schere says his group's plan was to tour Western parks from Rainier down through Crater Lake and the Redwoods, but that is now in doubt.
