Human feces, overflowing garbage, illegal off-roading and other damaging behavior in fragile areas were beginning to overwhelm some of the West’s iconic national parks, as a partial government shutdown left the areas open to visitors but with little staff on duty.
美國(guó)西部一些標(biāo)志性的國(guó)家公園正在遭隨地大小便、亂扔垃圾、非法越野駕駛、和其他一些破壞生態(tài)環(huán)境脆弱地區(qū)行為的“吞噬”,這是由于美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府多個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)“關(guān)門”,這些國(guó)家公園仍然對(duì)游客開放,但管理員卻嚴(yán)重不足。
“It’s a free-for-all,” Dakota Snider, 24, who lives and works in Yosemite Valley, said by telephone Monday, as Yosemite National Park officials announced closings of some minimally supervised campgrounds and public areas within the park that are overwhelmed.
24歲的達(dá)科他·斯奈德本周一在接受電話采訪時(shí)說:“這里一片混亂”。他工作和生活在約塞米蒂谷。美國(guó)約塞米蒂國(guó)家公園當(dāng)天宣布,關(guān)閉一些幾乎無人看管的露營(yíng)地和園區(qū)內(nèi)不堪重負(fù)的公共區(qū)域。
free-for-all: 不加管制,混戰(zhàn)
“It’s so heartbreaking. There is more trash and human waste and disregard for the rules than I’ve seen in my four years living here,” Snider said.
斯奈德說:“太讓人傷心了。這幾天看到的垃圾、糞便以及無視規(guī)定的行為,比我過去4年在這里看到的都要多。”
The partial federal government shutdown, now into its 11th day, has forced furloughs of hundreds of thousands of federal government employees. This has left many parks without most of the rangers and others who staff campgrounds and otherwise keep parks running.
美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府多個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)1日進(jìn)入“關(guān)門”第11天,導(dǎo)致數(shù)十萬名聯(lián)邦員工被迫休假,多座國(guó)家公園在缺少營(yíng)地服務(wù)人員和公園管理員的情況下運(yùn)營(yíng)。
furlough furlough ['f??l??]: n.休假;暫時(shí)解雇;放假
Unlike shutdowns in some previous administrations, the Trump administration was leaving parks open to visitors despite the staff furloughs, said John Garder, senior budget director of the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.
非營(yíng)利組織國(guó)家公園與維護(hù)協(xié)會(huì)高級(jí)預(yù)算主管約翰·加德爾說,與前幾屆政府應(yīng)對(duì)政府停擺的做法不同,特朗普政府允許公園在員工停工期間向游客開放。
“We’re afraid that we’re going to start seeing significant damage to the natural resources in parks and potentially to historic and other cultural artifacts,” Garder said. “We’re concerned there’ll be impacts to visitors’ safety.”
加德爾說:“我們擔(dān)心公園的自然資源、歷史文物和其他文化藝術(shù)品遭到嚴(yán)重破壞,我們也擔(dān)心游客安全受影響”。
“It’s really a nightmare scenario,” Garder said.
他說:“這真是噩夢(mèng)般的情景。”
nightmare['na?tme?] : n.惡夢(mèng);夢(mèng)魘般的經(jīng)歷
Under the park service’s shutdown plan, authorities have to close any area where garbage or other problems become threats to health and safety or to wildlife, spokesman Jeremy Barnum said in an email Monday.
(美國(guó)國(guó)家公園管理局)發(fā)言人杰雷米·巴納姆在周一的一封電郵中說,按照公園關(guān)閉計(jì)劃,任何區(qū)域如果因垃圾等問題威脅人員健康、安全或野生生物,管理者必須予以關(guān)閉。
In the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, some areas of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks were closed Monday evening.
本周一晚間,位于加州中部南內(nèi)華達(dá)山脈的紅杉國(guó)家公園和金斯河谷國(guó)家公園關(guān)閉部分區(qū)域。
Officials at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado said Monday they were closing restrooms and locking up trash bins in many locations.
同一天,科羅拉多州落基山國(guó)家公園宣布將在多處地點(diǎn)關(guān)閉衛(wèi)生間、鎖上垃圾桶。
At Yosemite, Snider said crowds of visitors were driving into the park to take advantage of free admission, with only a few park rangers working and a limited number of restrooms open.
斯奈德說,成群的游客駕車來到約塞米蒂公園免費(fèi)觀光,值班管理員屈指可數(shù)。正常開放的衛(wèi)生間同樣有限。
Visitors were allowing their dogs to run off-leash in an area rich with bears and other wildlife, and scattering bags of garbage along the roads, Snider said.
游客在熊和其他眾多野生動(dòng)物出沒的環(huán)境中讓狗亂跑、不拴繩,沿途丟棄一袋袋的垃圾。
“You’re looking at Yosemite Falls and in front of you is plastic bottles and trash bags,” he said.
他說:“當(dāng)你望向約塞米蒂瀑布,映入眼簾的是塑料瓶和垃圾袋。”
德克薩斯州的大本德國(guó)家公園也面臨著垃圾過剩的問題,導(dǎo)致黑熊有可能被吸引到公園來。大本德區(qū)負(fù)責(zé)人鮑勃·克魯曼納克在一封電子郵件中告訴《國(guó)家公園旅行者》:垃圾會(huì)吸引熊。
曾于2013年美國(guó)政府“關(guān)門”期間在內(nèi)政部工作的蒂姆·富勒頓在推特上寫道:作為經(jīng)歷過2013年政府“關(guān)門”的人,讓我告訴你這有多危險(xiǎn),如果有人在國(guó)家公園或野生動(dòng)物保護(hù)區(qū)摔倒、迷路或出了什么問題,他們只能靠自己了。
在南加州的約書亞樹國(guó)家公園,非法縱火、非法停車和亂丟垃圾行為也有所增加。
公園的志愿者蘭德·阿博特稱,他曾試圖勸說人們不要亂扔垃圾和從事其他非法活動(dòng),但他說,他遇到的人中有70%的反應(yīng)“極其粗魯”。
他還補(bǔ)充說,“現(xiàn)在公園里面的人太瘋狂了。”由于缺乏工人,公園的廁所也沒有得到維護(hù)。阿博特告訴《泰晤士報(bào)》,500卷廁紙已經(jīng)用完了。
Some visitors have strung Christmas lights in the twisting Joshua trees, many of which are hundreds of years old, the Los Angeles Times reported.
據(jù)《洛杉磯時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道,一些游客還在蜿蜒曲折的約書亞樹上系圣誕彩燈,有些樹已經(jīng)有幾百年歷史了。
Most visitors were being respectful of the desert wilderness and park facilities, Joshua Tree’s superintendent, David Smith, said in a statement.
約書亞樹國(guó)家公園的主管大衛(wèi)·史密斯在聲明中說,大部分游客對(duì)沙漠荒地和公園設(shè)施都很尊重。
But some are seizing on the shortage of park staffers to off-road illegally and otherwise damage the park, as well as relieving themselves in the open, a park statement said.
聲明中稱,但一些游客抓住公園管理員人手不夠的漏洞,非法越野駕駛,甚至隨地大小便,破壞了公園環(huán)境。
Nearly all roads inside Yellowstone are normally closed for winter, meaning most visitors at this time of the year access park attractions like Old Faithful or the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone through guides.
黃石國(guó)家公園冬季一般會(huì)封閉幾乎所有道路,意味著多數(shù)到訪游客只能在導(dǎo)游帶領(lǐng)下前往老忠實(shí)泉和科羅拉多大峽谷等景點(diǎn)。
提供導(dǎo)游服務(wù)的旅行社原本只向游客提供雪地車等通行工具,如今替聯(lián)邦政府員工干活,沿途清掃道路、拖運(yùn)垃圾、在衛(wèi)生間放廁紙。
“It’s definitely not our preference — the park service does a good job doing their thing and we hate to see them out of work,” said Travis Watt, general manager of a tourist agency. “But it’s something we can handle.”
“我們當(dāng)然不情愿做這些,”一家旅行社的總經(jīng)理特拉維斯·瓦特說,“園區(qū)服務(wù)人員本職工作做得挺好,我們也不想他們停工,但這種事情我們可以搞定。”
政府停擺影響多個(gè)領(lǐng)域
受影響的不僅僅有公園和游客,美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府雇員、科技工作者、甚至打算結(jié)婚的新人,都受到了波及。
目前有大約80萬聯(lián)邦雇員被迫休假,或是在無薪工作。由于許多美國(guó)家庭都是月光族,一些家庭不得不計(jì)劃變賣家產(chǎn)。在田納西州國(guó)家公園工作的泰勒稱,他們一家四口只靠他一人的薪水,由于要供房、供車及日常支出,他們不得不把一些值錢的東西拿到拍賣網(wǎng)站上去拍賣。
Employees have taken to Twitter to express their frustration over the shutdown, sharing financial difficulties with the hashtag #ShutdownStories.
聯(lián)邦雇員們紛紛在推特上表達(dá)對(duì)政府“關(guān)門”的不滿,以#關(guān)門故事 為標(biāo)簽互相分享經(jīng)濟(jì)困難的狀況。
我是一名“必要人員”,會(huì)拿到薪水,但啥時(shí)候能拿到呢?我們是月光族,如果政府繼續(xù)“關(guān)門”,我很擔(dān)心會(huì)付不起房貸、學(xué)生貸款和下月的各種賬單。做夢(mèng)都要被嚇醒。#關(guān)門故事
謝天謝地我打兩份工,因?yàn)樵诿绹?guó)運(yùn)輸管理局拿不到薪水。但我還是得每天去上班。這意味著,我每天都要做兩份工作,每晚只能睡兩三個(gè)小時(shí),但依舊入不敷出。#關(guān)門故事
On a GoFundMe page, one contracted worker wrote: "Being a single mom, I'm in panic mode."
在“來幫助我”平臺(tái)的頁面上,一位聯(lián)邦政府合同工寫道:“我是個(gè)陷入恐慌焦慮的單親媽媽。”
"I am not getting ANY PAY at all, even for the days that I did work before the shutdown. I hope that the government will see how this is having a dire affect on people like me."
“我現(xiàn)在拿不到任何薪水,甚至在政府關(guān)門前的那些工作天數(shù)的薪水也拿不到。我希望政府能看到這對(duì)像我一樣的人們有怎樣的惡劣影響。”
As many federally employed scientists stop working at agencies like the National Science Foundation, labs across the country are facing repercussions.
由于很多受雇于聯(lián)邦的科學(xué)家停止了在美國(guó)科學(xué)基金會(huì)等機(jī)構(gòu)的工作,全美的實(shí)驗(yàn)室都受到了影響。
Researchers are concerned about their ability to access federal data and getting in touch with grant officials about project funding.
研究人員們擔(dān)心無法獲取聯(lián)邦數(shù)據(jù),正與負(fù)責(zé)項(xiàng)目集資的撥款官員聯(lián)系。
一些博物館和畫廊也要關(guān)門了。
這將包括國(guó)家動(dòng)物園、國(guó)家航空航天博物館、國(guó)家非裔美國(guó)人歷史和文化博物館、國(guó)家自然歷史博物館,以及幾個(gè)畫廊,包括國(guó)家肖像畫廊,那里面有美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)的畫像。
美國(guó)史密森學(xué)會(huì)(Smithsonian Institution)在其官方推特上表示,史密森學(xué)會(huì)旗下的博物館和畫廊將于1月2日關(guān)閉。
(史密森學(xué)會(huì)官方推特截圖)還有些打算注冊(cè)結(jié)婚的新人無奈地發(fā)現(xiàn),他們的婚期也得推遲了。
One couple tweeted that their marriage remains unofficial since marriage bureau staff in the capital were furloughed during their wedding.
一對(duì)情侶發(fā)推特說,由于華盛頓結(jié)婚登記處的員工放假了,他們無法正式注冊(cè)結(jié)婚。
謝謝特朗普政府關(guān)門,謝謝特朗普了。我們結(jié)婚這周,華盛頓結(jié)婚登記處的員工們放假了!不要從伊拉克回來了。一位未婚的前政府職員敬啟。
但據(jù)Buzzfeed報(bào)道,離婚登記處仍然對(duì)大家敞開大門,只是上班的員工很少。這操作,你是不是也很服氣……