Visit Rivers Responsibly During the Shut Down

The US Federal government officially shut down October 1, 2025, and a resolution to reopen the government appears to be nowhere in sight. The shutdown threatens our country’s river based communities that rely on the clean water, healthy ecosystems, access, and infrastructure the Federal government provides for our public waters. From a recreation and tourism perspective, the shutdown’s disruptions will hurt small businesses, workers, and families across the country.

In practical terms, river runners need to step-up our game and not add to potential issues on public lands. Seven hundred and fifty thousand government workers are expected to be furloughed. Open air sites in National Parks and other Public Lands will remain publicly accessible but visitor centers and other staffed areas will be closed. In light of the workforce reductions our public lands agencies have already faced this year, this shutdown is likely to cause chaos and other issues associated with unstaffed high visitation to public lands. It’s a good time to be extra-cautious and really try to paddle up to the standards of our Paddle Wise program in terms of boating responsibly, utilizing leave no trace principles–even in the front-country, and not putting extra pressure on areas that will be hit hard by visitation without management. You can find the details of Paddle Wise, our responsibility code for river runners, here.

Government shutdowns can affect rivers and river running in a number of ways. Some examples to be aware of include, river access closures, unstaffed and understaffed public lands, impacted implementation of clean water act programs, limited emergency services, limited river management and fire planning, halted maintenance of USGS gages, and impeded hurricane, flood, and weather forecasting. Let’s work together to make sure our public lands are protected and don’t pay the price for our government’s temporary inability to fund itself.