Salt Lake based company donates funding for national parks

UTAH STATE CAPITOL – A new partnership is going to let some of the busiest national parks in Utah stay open, for now, while the federal government shutdown continues to trudge on.  One Utah business is putting up a lot of cash to make this happen.

Ever since the government shut down, the offices of Zion National Park have been operating on a skeleton crew.  There have been just enough employees to keep the visitors center open, keep the bathrooms clean and remove some of the trash.  The funding to keep these services going has come from a partnership between the Utah Office of Tourism, Washington County, the city of St. George and the Zion Forever Project

Vicky Varela with the Utah Office of Tourism says, “It’s kind of amazing that as the dysfunction in Washington D.C. has continued, it has created an imperative that we do things right here in Utah.”

Now, the parks are getting a $100 thousand donation from Alsco Corporation, a locally-based company that provides things like linens and towels to hotels all over the world.  The funding will be split up according to how busy the parks are, which means Zion National Park will get the most.

“Many travelers have planned their trip to Utah for months, if not years.  We want them to remember the beautiful vistas, not piles of trash in the parks,” says Alsco CEO Bob Steiner.

Zion will have funding through March 9^th, while Bryce Canyon and Arches will have money through President’s Day.