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美国政府“关门” 多座国家公园垃圾成灾
你的新年计划是去美国黄石国家公园?还是改改吧。由于联邦政府“关门”,美国多座国家公园管理员严重不足,在公园你看到的不是瀑布、小溪和绿地,而是垃圾、粪便、塑料瓶,还有百年古树上乱系的圣诞彩灯。
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.
美国西部一些标志性的国家公园正在遭随地大小便、乱扔垃圾、非法越野驾驶、和其他一些破坏生态环境脆弱地区行为的“吞噬”,这是由于美国联邦政府多个机构“关门”,这些国家公园仍然对游客开放,但管理员却严重不足。
“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岁的达科他·斯奈德本周一在接受电话采访时说:“这里一片混乱”。他工作和生活在约塞米蒂谷。美国约塞米蒂国家公园当天宣布,关闭一些几乎无人看管的露营地和园区内不堪重负的公共区域。
free-for-all: 不加管制,混战
“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.
斯奈德说:“太让人伤心了。这几天看到的垃圾、粪便以及无视规定的行为,比我过去4年在这里看到的都要多。”
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.
美国联邦政府多个机构1日进入“关门”第11天,导致数十万名联邦员工被迫休假,多座国家公园在缺少营地服务人员和公园管理员的情况下运营。
furlough furlough ['fɜːləʊ]: n.休假;暂时解雇;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.
非营利组织国家公园与维护协会高级预算主管约翰·加德尔说,与前几届政府应对政府停摆的做法不同,特朗普政府允许公园在员工停工期间向游客开放。
“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.”
加德尔说:“我们担心公园的自然资源、历史文物和其他文化艺术品遭到严重破坏,我们也担心游客安全受影响”。
“It’s really a nightmare scenario,” Garder said.
他说:“这真是噩梦般的情景。”
nightmare['naɪtmeə] : n.恶梦;梦魇般的经历
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.
(美国国家公园管理局)发言人杰雷米·巴纳姆在周一的一封电邮中说,按照公园关闭计划,任何区域如果因垃圾等问题威胁人员健康、安全或野生生物,管理者必须予以关闭。
In the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, some areas of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks were closed Monday evening.
本周一晚间,位于加州中部南内华达山脉的红杉国家公园和金斯河谷国家公园关闭部分区域。
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,科罗拉多州落基山国家公园宣布将在多处地点关闭卫生间、锁上垃圾桶。
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.
斯奈德说,成群的游客驾车来到约塞米蒂公园免费观光,值班管理员屈指可数。正常开放的卫生间同样有限。
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.
游客在熊和其他众多野生动物出没的环境中让狗乱跑、不拴绳,沿途丢弃一袋袋的垃圾。
“You’re looking at Yosemite Falls and in front of you is plastic bottles and trash bags,” he said.
他说:“当你望向约塞米蒂瀑布,映入眼帘的是塑料瓶和垃圾袋。”
德克萨斯州的大本德国家公园也面临着垃圾过剩的问题,导致黑熊有可能被吸引到公园来。大本德区负责人鲍勃·克鲁曼纳克在一封电子邮件中告诉《国家公园旅行者》:垃圾会吸引熊。
曾于2013年美国政府“关门”期间在内政部工作的蒂姆·富勒顿在推特上写道:作为经历过2013年政府“关门”的人,让我告诉你这有多危险,如果有人在国家公园或野生动物保护区摔倒、迷路或出了什么问题,他们只能靠自己了。
在南加州的约书亚树国家公园,非法纵火、非法停车和乱丢垃圾行为也有所增加。
公园的志愿者兰德·阿博特称,他曾试图劝说人们不要乱扔垃圾和从事其他非法活动,但他说,他遇到的人中有70%的反应“极其粗鲁”。
他还补充说,“现在公园里面的人太疯狂了。”由于缺乏工人,公园的厕所也没有得到维护。阿博特告诉《泰晤士报》,500卷厕纸已经用完了。
Some visitors have strung Christmas lights in the twisting Joshua trees, many of which are hundreds of years old, the Los Angeles Times reported.
据《洛杉矶时报》报道,一些游客还在蜿蜒曲折的约书亚树上系圣诞彩灯,有些树已经有几百年历史了。
Most visitors were being respectful of the desert wilderness and park facilities, Joshua Tree’s superintendent, David Smith, said in a statement.
约书亚树国家公园的主管大卫·史密斯在声明中说,大部分游客对沙漠荒地和公园设施都很尊重。
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.
声明中称,但一些游客抓住公园管理员人手不够的漏洞,非法越野驾驶,甚至随地大小便,破坏了公园环境。
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.
黄石国家公园冬季一般会封闭几乎所有道路,意味着多数到访游客只能在导游带领下前往老忠实泉和科罗拉多大峡谷等景点。
提供导游服务的旅行社原本只向游客提供雪地车等通行工具,如今替联邦政府员工干活,沿途清扫道路、拖运垃圾、在卫生间放厕纸。
“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.”
“我们当然不情愿做这些,”一家旅行社的总经理特拉维斯·瓦特说,“园区服务人员本职工作做得挺好,我们也不想他们停工,但这种事情我们可以搞定。”
政府停摆影响多个领域
受影响的不仅仅有公园和游客,美国联邦政府雇员、科技工作者、甚至打算结婚的新人,都受到了波及。
目前有大约80万联邦雇员被迫休假,或是在无薪工作。由于许多美国家庭都是月光族,一些家庭不得不计划变卖家产。在田纳西州国家公园工作的泰勒称,他们一家四口只靠他一人的薪水,由于要供房、供车及日常支出,他们不得不把一些值钱的东西拿到拍卖网站上去拍卖。
Employees have taken to Twitter to express their frustration over the shutdown, sharing financial difficulties with the hashtag #ShutdownStories.
联邦雇员们纷纷在推特上表达对政府“关门”的不满,以#关门故事 为标签互相分享经济困难的状况。
我是一名“必要人员”,会拿到薪水,但啥时候能拿到呢?我们是月光族,如果政府继续“关门”,我很担心会付不起房贷、学生贷款和下月的各种账单。做梦都要被吓醒。#关门故事
谢天谢地我打两份工,因为在美国运输管理局拿不到薪水。但我还是得每天去上班。这意味着,我每天都要做两份工作,每晚只能睡两三个小时,但依旧入不敷出。#关门故事
On a GoFundMe page, one contracted worker wrote: "Being a single mom, I'm in panic mode."
在“来帮助我”平台的页面上,一位联邦政府合同工写道:“我是个陷入恐慌焦虑的单亲妈妈。”
"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."
“我现在拿不到任何薪水,甚至在政府关门前的那些工作天数的薪水也拿不到。我希望政府能看到这对像我一样的人们有怎样的恶劣影响。”
As many federally employed scientists stop working at agencies like the National Science Foundation, labs across the country are facing repercussions.
由于很多受雇于联邦的科学家停止了在美国科学基金会等机构的工作,全美的实验室都受到了影响。
Researchers are concerned about their ability to access federal data and getting in touch with grant officials about project funding.
研究人员们担心无法获取联邦数据,正与负责项目集资的拨款官员联系。
一些博物馆和画廊也要关门了。
这将包括国家动物园、国家航空航天博物馆、国家非裔美国人历史和文化博物馆、国家自然历史博物馆,以及几个画廊,包括国家肖像画廊,那里面有美国前总统的画像。
(国家肖像画廊 图片来源:维基百科)
美国史密森学会(Smithsonian Institution)在其官方推特上表示,史密森学会旗下的博物馆和画廊将于1月2日关闭。
(史密森学会官方推特截图)
还有些打算注册结婚的新人无奈地发现,他们的婚期也得推迟了。
One couple tweeted that their marriage remains unofficial since marriage bureau staff in the capital were furloughed during their wedding.
一对情侣发推特说,由于华盛顿结婚登记处的员工放假了,他们无法正式注册结婚。
谢谢特朗普政府关门,谢谢特朗普了。我们结婚这周,华盛顿结婚登记处的员工们放假了!不要从伊拉克回来了。一位未婚的前政府职员敬启。
但据Buzzfeed报道,离婚登记处仍然对大家敞开大门,只是上班的员工很少。这操作,你是不是也很服气……