FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2012 file photo, Mount Rainier National Park Ranger Matt Chalup, left, hands park information to one of the first visitors to the park at the Nisqually entrance near Ashford, Wash. The politics have been fierce and the fingerpointing incessant. Come March 1, the across-the-board federal spending cuts called sequestration go into effect, launching a new season of economic uncertainty for a nation still trying to shake off a recession. A look at the cuts, how much they amount to and who they will affect -- in question and answer form. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Salazar: Thousands of Interior workers imperiled
Published: 12:52:27 AM, Tue 26 February 2013 UTC
WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says thousands of Interior Department workers would be furloughed, and thousands more seasonal workers would not be hired under automatic spending cuts set to take effect Friday.
Visiting hours at all 398 national parks are likely to be cut and sensitive areas would be blocked off to the public under what Salazar termed "draconian" cuts required by a budget-cutting law. Salazar said the park service's $112 million in cuts are especially grim, since they hit as parks are preparing for an influx of spring and summer visitors.
Salazar and National Park Service director Jon Jarvis said visitors will encounter fewer rangers, locked restrooms and see trashcans emptied less often if Congress does not reach a deal to avoid 5 percent across-the-board cuts.
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