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**bsteadman** · 10-07-2013, 07:44 PM

Mount Rushmore blockage stirs anger in South Dakota

Barring visitors from view an unexpected effect of shutdown

ArgusLeader.com
Jonathan Ellis
10/5/2013

Blocking access to trails and programs at South Dakota’s most popular attraction was one thing, but state officials didn’t expect Congress’ budget stalemate to shut down a view of Mount Rushmore.

The National Park Service placed cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore this week, barring visitors from pulling over and taking pictures of the famed monument.

The cones first went up Oct. 1, said Dusty Johnson, Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s chief of staff. The state asked that they be taken down, and federal officials did so with some of them. The state was told the cones were a safety precaution to help channel cars into viewing areas rather than to bar their entrance.

“I think reasonable people can disagree about that,” Johnson said.

The cones were down again Friday as a blizzard hit the Black Hills and plows needed access to the roads, Johnson said. He said the state would be monitoring to see whether the cones are put back along viewing areas.

“Once the snow’s off the ground, we’re going to be keeping an eye on how the cones go up,” Johnson said.

The Buffalo News reported that a tour group of dozens of people from western New York was unable to take pictures of the monument because highway viewing areas were coned off.

“It’s all closed up,” the newspaper quoted North Collins, N.Y., resident Hilde Werneth as saying. “They won’t even let you stop and take a picture. You can only drive by.”

Jim Hagen, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tourism, said the situation is hurting people from out-of-state and international visitors who are in South Dakota to visit the monument.
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View the complete article, including photo, at:

http://www.argusleader.com/article/2...NEWS/310050021

**bsteadman** · 10-08-2013, 01:57 AM

Whoa! See what's shut down and what's not …

Bizarre, growing list of things Obama is closing to American public

WND
Garth Kant
10/7/2013

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON – A growing chorus of critics is accusing the Obama administration of creating a long, strange list of unnecessary problems to make sure the government shutdown looks as bad as possible.

According to reports from across the country, the National Park Service has closed privately run restaurants, inns and marinas, claiming it doesn’t have the resources to let them stay open.

And now, farce has become reality in the government shutdown.

The website “i Own the World” posted a doctored photo to joke that the administration was trying to block the view of Mount Rushmore.

It’s not a joke anymore.

The government is not using helicopters to hold up a screen, but it appears to be doing what it can to block the view.

The Sioux Falls Business Journal reports, “The National Park Service placed cones along highway viewing areas outside Mount Rushmore this week, barring visitors from pulling over and taking pictures of the famed monument.”

After the cones appeared on their state road, South Dakota officials asked federal officials to remove them. Some were removed, according to Dusty Johnson, chief of staff for Gov. Dennis Daugaard, R-S.D.

Federal officials claimed the cones were a safety precaution, meant to channel cars into viewing areas, not prevent their entrance.

But Johnson wasn’t buying that.

“I think reasonable people can disagree about that,” he said.

The cones were removed to make way for plows when a blizzard struck Friday. Johnson said the state is watching to be sure the cones reappear.

The Buffalo News reported that a tour group from western New York was unable to take pictures of Mount Rushmore because highway viewing areas were coned off.

“It’s all closed up,” a tourist told the Buffalo News.

“They won’t even let you stop and take a picture. You can only drive by,” complained Hilde Wernet.

“They won’t even let you pull off on the side of the road,” said Jim Hagen, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tourism. “I just don’t know what they’re trying to accomplish.”

“It disgusts me that taxpayer resources were used on this act of stupidity,” Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., told the Sioux Falls paper. “This is federal government arrogance at its worst.”

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said it’s “outrageous,” and it seems to him, “[T]he administration wants to make this as painful as possible.”

Thune blamed Senate Democrats, saying they could easily pass spending bills to fund parks, and anything else.

“They, obviously, prefer to have the issue and not the solution,” he said.

Johnson said the governor even offered to use state funds to keep Mount Rushmore open, but the National Park Service turned him down.

“I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation,” he said.

Amber Alert Backfire

One closure apparently backfired so quickly, the federal government moved to immediately to reverse it.

Visitors to the federal Amber Alert website were greeted Monday morning with an announcement: “Due to the lapse in federal funding, this Office of Justice Programs (OJP) website is unavailable.”

The Amber Alert website issues information about abducted children.

“The Amber Alert system was never interrupted, but to eliminate any confusion, the informational site maintained by the Justice Department has been restored,” a Justice Department explained to CNN.

(Meanwhile, first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” website remained operational.)

See what “national security” spending is still flowing and to whom, despite the shutdown, in Doug Wead’s new column

Part of a pattern

The Mount Rushmore incident is just one of a series of shutdown-related moves by the National Park Service that, instead of saving money, would seem to be costing more money to enforce.

National Park Service employees tried to erect barricades surrounding parking lots at Mount Vernon, which has been privately funded for 150 years.

But the staff at George Washington’s estate turned the government employees away and removed the barricades.

The owner of the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina said he tried to defy Park Service and stay open, but park rangers blocked his driveway to prevent customers from entering.

Bruce O’Connell told the Washington Times he isn’t draining any federal funds because his workers are not employed by the government, and his fire and police services are supplied by the county.

He said it probably cost the federal government more money to post the rangers in his driveway.

The Times also reports, “Americans across the country have embraced the chance to flout the closures as a defiant act of civil disobedience.”

“The Internet has been flooded with photos of people going around traffic cones and vehicle barricades to get to parking lots, bicycle paths and hiking trails.”
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View the complete article, including photo and images, at:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/whoa-see-...and-whats-not/

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WTF - Police prevent drivers from pulling over and viewing Mt. Rushmore - FR Thread

WTF - Police prevent drivers from pulling over and viewing Mt. Rushmore - FR Thread

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