Despite the ongoing US government shutdown, five national parks in Utah will reopen on Saturday. The Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef national parks would continue operations for 10 days. The parks would be able to welcome tourists on Columbus Day weekend and on the fall recess for schools in the state. Together with the parks, the Natural Bridges, Glen Canyon and Cedar Breaks national monuments would also be open.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed an agreement with the federal government to reopen the parks. An official press statement from the state cited by CNN revealed that Utah would be paying the National Park Service (NPS) as much as USD 1.67 million or USD 166,572 a day to put the eight sites back in operation.
The statement read, "If the federal government shutdown ends before then, the State will receive a refund of unused monies." Once the state would has transferred the funds to the Department of the Interior, the personnel concerned would then be asked to return to work.
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