Northern New England is in its glory; now and for the next week or so. The leaves are nearing peak color and until yesterday, there has been a big high pressure zone parked over the area so the weather has been what would once have been described as "heavenly." It has been raining now but in a few days, the sun will shine again and the leaves will still be there, in full. And for that, Washington can take no credit.
However … it has done something that will cause some small business people, who depend on this season, to suffer. According to the Caledonian Record, the U.S. Forest Service has closed 21 campgrounds and many more camp sites in the White Mountain National Forest and part of the government "shutdown."
What is called "leaf-peeping season" generally brings more than half a million visitors to New Hampshire, “pumping nearly $90 million into the economy.”
One campground owner who has had contracts with the government since 1992 estimates that he will:
… lose $50,000 from the fully booked campsites -- unless a deal is reached.
The law is the law, of course. And a shutdown is a shutdown. Partial or not. But one wonders if a government less haughty and not so inclined to view citizens as subjects might not have lost the paperwork on this one.
For just a couple of weeks, anyway.
