Writers on the Range: What happens to our parks when rangers  disappear?  

For over a month, the longest government shutdown in American history has left our national parks in free fall. When the shutdown began in October, the Interior Department sent over 9,000 Park Service staff home without pay, with orders to leave most parks open with gates unlocked.

Since then, visitors have continued flocking to parks: More than 25,000 visitors poured into Utah’s Zion National Park on a single day; at New Mexico’s Bandelier National Monument, hikers went off trail across closed restoration areas; at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, sightseers walked through sensitive meadows, ignoring posted signs.

Meanwhile, there’s been virtually a public blackout about what’s been happening inside parks after key staffers were fired. That’s because top agency officials curtail