There once was a Persian Emperor who when the tide came in a little higher than expected, ordered the sea to be lashed.
The punishment was carried out.
The sea didn’t seem to mind.
And the emperor went down in history as a very silly man.
We don’t have emperors anymore but silliness did not die with them.
Shutting down our national parks is right up there with whipping the sea.
Yellowstone, Great Basin and the Grand Canyon will not be any less awesome just because someone put a closed sign on the road to them.
Indeed the federal government just might spend more money keeping out as they would have letting people in, especially if you factor in the loss of revenue usually produced by the gift shops and snack bars.
In fact this might be the best time to visit our national parks.
Think of it Yellowstone without traffic jams!!!
Yosemite without smog!!!
There must be a thousand miles of back roads that lead into our parks for the intrepid hiker to just wander in and be one with nature.
As for upkeep we trust the American people to pick up after themselves.
Oh sure there might be a few slackers who might be litterbugs but on the whole most people not only will pick up their own garbage but also police the campsites of slobs. And if those slobs are really sloppy especially with food, nature has its own tidying up force called bears.
Thing about bears is that they will eat the garbage and also the garbage makers. Kind of like a carrot and stick approach.
About the only motive we can think of for the park closure is that it is punishment. Democrats and Republicans can’t get anything done so they deny the rest of us natural beauty.
That is about as effective as whipping the ocean.
As long as there are beautiful places people will find them.
Whether or not they have to drive around a gate or take a road less traveled.