Government shutdown: Stalemate over Trump’s border fence sets new record, while US’s most revered national parks suffer

A paraplegic climber is helping protect the celebrated Joshua Tree National Park, one of thousands of individual action as the government shutdown, triggered by the failure of Donald Trump and Democrats to reach an agreement over border funding heads for the record books.

As up to 800,000 federal employees – more than half of them still working – missed their first pay cheque as a result of the funding freeze, the president was reportedly edging closer to declaring a national emergency to obtain the border wall he has demanded, without congressional support. He insisted he did not want to do so and called upon Democrats in Congress to help reach a “simple” solution.

With no sign a compromise in sight, across the nation the pain caused by the shutdown began to bite harder. Many affected by the stalemate have reportedly taken to other work, such as baby sitting and part-time driving. The shutdown is due to enter its 22nd day – a new record – at midnight on Friday.

Included in the impacts of the shutdown has been the closure of all, or part of, 388 of the nation’s 737 parks, historic sites, and national monuments. California’s Joshua Tree National Park was due to be closed for maintenance after people cut down the famed trees, threw rubbish, and went off-roading across the previously pristine desert.

Among those who came to the aid of the park was Rand Abbott, a 55-year-old military veteran, who lives there and is known as a keen rock climber, despite having lost the use of his legs.

“I tell people that we’re the guests here,” Mr Abbott told The Independent, speaking from Joshua Tree National Park, a day after working with visiting students from New York who had helped collect seven bags of rubbish.

He said he had seen conditions worsen in the park after the shutdown come into effect at midnight on 22 December, with most of the National Parks Service (NPS) staff that look after its 1,200 square miles, being told to go home.

“I went out there and picked up trash. I did so on my own, to start with,” he said, adding that other people also volunteered. He even collected rubbish on Christmas Day.

Mr Abbott said he also saw people camping on protected parts of the park, and trying to burn a Joshua tree, the famed yucca-type tree from which the park takes its name. “I saw them putting a Joshua tree in the fire ring and told them they were protected. They said ‘We’re cold’,” he added.

Joshua Tree superintendent David Smith told National Parks Traveller. “We had some pretty extensive four-wheel driving around the entire area to access probably our most significant tree in the park.”

It had been expected the park would be shut entirely this weekend. However, as images of the damage to the park were shared on social media, triggering outrage, NPS officials said they had been able to use revenue from recreation fees to avert the closure.

“In addition, recently closed areas of the park will once again be accessible to visitors starting January 10,” the NPS said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Mr Trump said he would not yet declare a national emergency to obtain the funding for a border wall "right now", a day after he flew to Texas to meet border agency staff and community leaders and defended the need for such a barrier.

“We want congress to do its job,” Mr Trump said during a White House event on border security, adding that Democratic politicians “should come back and vote”.

“What we’re not looking to do right now is national emergency,” he said. “I don’t want to do this.”

As hundreds of thousands worry about how to make ends meet without pay, on Capitol Hill politicians scrambled to try and alleviate some pressure.

By a vote of 411-7, the House of Representatives passed a bill requiring that all government workers receive retroactive pay after the partial shutdown ends. The Senate approved the bill unanimously on Thursday. The president is expected to sign the legislation, it said.

Tom O’Key, a Joshua Tree activist and astronomer, told the Los Angeles Times: “There needs to be a constitutional amendment protecting our cherished public landscapes. Because right now, the worst among us are trampling the best we’ve got.”

Mr Abbott, who said he served for ten years in the Marine Corps and moved to Joshua Tree National Park after losing the use of his legs following surgery, said his clean up in the park was not a “political statement”.

Asked for his views on the shutdown and Mr Trump’s demand for a border wall, he said such a conversation would “probably take five hours”.

But he added: “The national parks should not be a pawn. The parks cannot be replaced. There is one Joshua Tree, one Yellowstone, one Yosemite. You have to take that into account. And if you do something that results in this situation, you have to find a solution.”