Brice Wallace
The state of Utah was ready to step in to help keep its national parks open in the event of a federal government shutdown.
It still is.
At a special meeting late last month, the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) board approved using $5 million from the state’s Industrial Assistance Account to keep the parks operating if the shutdown occurred, but Congress avoided a shutdown with an agreement to keep the federal government funded for 45 more days.
The Go Utah board motion says the $5 million can be used for a shutdown occurring “in 2023.”
“This isn’t our first rodeo. We’ve had this happen a couple of times over the past number of years,” Ryan Starks, Go Utah executive director, told the board before the vote, which took place a few days before a shutdown could have occurred.
“The key for us right now is to keep our national parks open. We’re at the peak season for visitation and would hate to have those parks closed. The shoulder communities really are dependent on the visitation and the spending that happens.”
Starks said federal government shutdowns usually last two to four weeks but potentially could be in place for a couple of months. Go Utah does not anticipate using the entire $5 million during a shutdown but does expect either state or federal reimbursement to occur if IAA funds are tapped.
“I think it sounds great,” board chair Carine Clark said. “I think it’s a great idea be organized and prepared.”
“Not that this board needs convincing,” Starks said, “but I would just say too that this is a really strong statement from our board to support our economic needs, especially in that part of the state.”
The Utah Office of Tourism, part of Go Utah, said the earmarked funds would cover basic operating expenses for various foundations affiliated with the national parks. The foundations would not operate the parks but would transfer state funds to the parks to underwrite basic operations.
“Our first priority is watching out for visitors who have traveled from all over the world to have once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Our national parks will remain open,” Vicki Varela, managing director of the office, said prior to the anticipated shutdown. “We are also mindful of the communities that rely on the visitor economy, and of course, protecting the natural environment of these beautiful places.”
The National Park Service estimated that visitor spending at national parks in Utah contributed $2.6 billion to the state’s economy in 2022. The tourism office also said Utah ranks among the top three states for jobs supported by national park economic output, at 23,300. It also cited US Travel, which said a shutdown could cost the U.S. travel economy as much as $140 million a day.
Before the anticipated shutdown, Gov. Spencer Cox announced that Utah had a contingency plan in place to continue the WIC federal nutrition program for women, infants and children and to keep national parks in the state open.
“Our tourism economy is also of vital importance, and we’ve communicated to Interior Secretary [Deb] Haaland our plan to keep Utah’s national parks open if she is willing to work with us, and our expectation that any state dollars spent will be restored to the people of Utah,” Cox said.
State funds were used to keep national parks open during federal government shutdowns in 2023 and 2018-19. Any repeat in the future requires the approval from Haaland.
The Industrial Assistance Account also has been tapped recently for up to $4 million for other economic projects, primarily to provide $2 million to help the Department of Natural Resources’ cloud-seeding program to help alleviate the effects of Utah’s drought; funds to help Silicon Slopes with its 2023 Silicon Slopes Summit, in which thousands from the tech industry gathered Sept. 27-28 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City; and funds to grow the Manufacturing Modernization Grant program.
“Silicon Slopes is a really important piece of Utah’s economic fabric,” Starks said before the IAA vote for the summit. “It really puts Utah on the map. … As we go on trade missions, as we go on corporate recruitment visits, the theme or the topic of Silicon Slopes always gets brought up. So, in our opinion, this is something we need to support because it is an important piece of our economic strategy.”
The Go Utah board last year used $1 million in IAA funds for the cloud-seeding program and this year doubled the amount. The funds will be used for the engineering, design and fabrication of cloud-seeding machines that will be used to augment wintertime snowfall.
The cloud-seeding machines use propane burners to put sodium iodide into the air and can result in 5 percent to 15 percent more precipitation from a storm, at a cost of $10 to $15 per acre-foot for the additional water, the DNR says. This year, the Legislature allocated $12 million in one-time funding and provided an annual budget of $5 million to the division. Local sponsors also help pay for cloud-seeding costs.
“We know that this will be a long-term win,” Starks said. “We’re probably not necessarily going to see immediate results. Economic development and water do go hand-in-hand. … We thought this would be a good investment to help try to secure whatever water we can.”