National parks tally shutdown damage

LOS ANGELES — In Death Valley, piles of human feces and hunks of what rangers call “toilet paper flowers” were left scattered around the desert.

At Joshua Tree, officials found about 24 miles of unauthorized new trails carved into the desert landscape by off-road vehicles, along with some of the park’s namesake trees toppled.

And at Point Reyes along the Marin County coast, a colony of elephant seals made a popular beach their new home and welcomed 40 new pups into the world.

With the partial federal government shutdown over — at least for now — authorities are beginning the tally to damage that occurred to some of California’s national parklands during the weeks in which many park officials were off the job.

While volunteers tried to keep the peace, officials returned to find humans — and some creatures — had taken advantage of the lack of supervision.

In the end, park officials said the damage to the parks was scattered but not widespread. The cleanups are underway, and that includes removing vandalism and fixing up trashed facilities.

During the shutdown, some reports “made it sound like it was the Wild West,” said George Land, a Joshua Tree spokesman. “While there was a certain segment of the population like that, the majority of visitors love this area and love the park and behaved themselves. This is not a virtual wasteland.”

Some of the most concerning losses involved three Joshua trees that were cut down or damaged and two mature juniper trees that were cut for firewood along with dozens of cat claw acacia trees, said park Supt. David Smith.

Joshua Tree — which was on track to have more than 3 million visitors in 2018 — also missed out on roughly $1.03 million in entrance fees, Land said.

“I don’t want to put everything in dollars and cents, but sometimes it comes down to that,” he said.

Former Joshua Tree Superintendent Curt Sauer decried the destruction at the park along with dozens of other people at a rally over the weekend.

He estimated it could take centuries for the park’s namesake trees and other sensitive vegetation to recover from damage inflicted during the shutdown.

Some trees appear to have been chopped down, but Land said rangers don’t know how many were harmed or how the destruction was caused.

“There appear to be trees that people may have hooked hammocks onto or did some damage to,” he said.

Joshua trees grow slowly, only about an inch to an inch and a half a year, Land said.