I spent a full year planning a college course around the Olympic National Park, including a field trip of 4 days of camping and hiking. The shutdown happened just 4 days before we were to leave campus. It was clear we would have no access at all to the park or even to park campgrounds, so we quickly changed plans and went to the John Day Fossil Beds instead where public roads that pass the 3 sites could not be closed and we could at least glimpse the national treasures. The students were of course disappointed that we wouldn’t get to the Olympics, but were game nonetheless. “They can’t shut us down”! they said. We were still able to hike in the general vicinity and learn from handouts I’d obtained from previous visits and a library I brought on the trip. But we were confused by the removal of ALL educational information from bulletin boards at the sites. Why go to that trouble to deny people the opportunity to learn? The message felt wrong, like the shutdown has vengeance in it. That was the worst part of the experience - and clearly their choice. We’d like to understand that better.
Sincerely,
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
Some 54 million years ago, this entire region of Oregon lay beneath the Pacific Ocean. Within the striated rock, scientists have found fossilized evidence of more than 2,200 plants and animals and of great shifts in temperature and precipitation that may reveal clues to the planet’s climactic cycles. The park’s 14,000 acres are divided into three parts — the Clarno, Painted Hills and Sheep Rock Units — offering rugged hiking trails, spring and summer wildflowers, scenic drives, and of course, a museum of fascinating fossils to help visitors reflect on the planet’s long history.
State(s): Oregon
Established: 1974
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