Death Valley National Park, 30 Days into the Shutdown
Photographer Ian Tuttle visited Death Valley last week and asked tourists and locals about how they see the desert park faring a month into the government shutdown
On Wednesday, Ivan Nedeljkobic, who’s worked at national parks for over 40 years, headed to his job at the Inn at Furnace Creek, a privately managed hotel within Death Valley. “They’re cutting hours for private employees,” he says. “Now we’re getting 30 hours, we used to get 35 to 40 a week. We’ll see what happens when I get to work today.”
Dean Smith, a retired economics professor, last year moved to Lone Pine, California, about 100 miles from Death Valley. “We have a lot of people on the [Highway] 395 corridor who are federal employees,” he says. “If you’re not slinging hash or beer, you’re working for the federal government. There are lots of people affected.”
Kaelyn Schreiner, from Maple Grove, Minnesota (left), and Logan Godfrey, from outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin (right), were staying in Las Vegas and visiting nearby national parks, including Death Valley. “I’ve looked at other parks around us, because there’s no entrance fee, so it’s like free reign," says Godfrey. "It's sad, but I’d still like to see these parks. It’s a guilty indulgence.”
Ernie Jackson, from Houston, Texas (left), and Mustapha Khan, from New York City (right), at the Mesquite Dunes. “I’ve been planning this trip since August,” says Jackson. “I’ve been to 24 of the 59 national parks. Since the park shut down, I’ve been asked a hundred times, ‘Are you still going to go?’ But I’m not letting the people responsible for this shutdown keep me from doing what I want to do.”
Paul Warden, from South Dakota, at the gas station in Furnace Creek, Death Valley. I asked him if anything seemed different with the shutdown in effect. “I haven’t noticed a change. Most people are good.”
Cristina Santín, from Spain, photographed at Badwater. She was traveling with her partner and his parents in a rented RV, touring a number of national parks. “We couldn’t go into Sequoia National Park because of the snow. Under normal conditions the park rangers would have plowed the roads,” she says. “There are a lot of things that are closed. We go to pay, and they say ‘No.’ I can’t say that’s a positive though. I think the national parks should close to put more pressure on the government.”
May Terwindt (left) and Josephine De Bruijn (right), both from the Netherlands, photographed at Badwater. They were on holiday in the U.S. for a month, touring the national parks. “We planned two days here but everything is closed,” says Terwindt. “The visitor centers are closed, campgrounds are closed…Nothing like this could ever happen in the Netherlands. It’s not possible.”
Manuel Lopez (second from right) with his wife, Carla, and sons Manuel (left) and Andrew (right), from Las Vegas, were visiting Death Valley for the first time. “We didn’t know we didn’t have to pay until we got here. That was awesome,” says Manuel.
Michael Gordon, a professional photographer from L.A., guides workshops and photography trips all winter in the park. “I’ve been affected because lots of places have no bathrooms open for my clients,” he says. “I’ve been finding excrement and toilet paper all over. In a shutdown, I’d stand to lose a lot [of business].”
Gordon’s client, Joanne Gilmore, from New Hampshire, booked her trip six months ago. “Some people have been trashing [the park] because it’s lawless,” says Gilmore. “It’s a serious problem, people doing donuts in the mud where they shouldn’t.”