Seneca Rocks and the shutdown

Does anyone know specifics about how this government down time effects Seneca?

if Seneca is significantly effected I feel bad for the local small businesses. Hopefully there will be some positive (for climbers and locals) news here...

Thank you for your time.

Is it a national park? In any case, I know it's not gated and there are no fees, so the climbing would not be affected, although the parking at the visitor's center may be closed?

Hey Doug,

It is on federal land. Im sure the visitor center will be closed.

the parking lot (the main one where the heli pad is) hopefully remains open. If not its not hard or inconvienent to just walk across from the store or campgrounds...

so even if the gate (is there one?) to the parking lot is closed and the visitor center and its lot, is Seneca still LEGALLY climbable?

The Stoned Master wrote:Hey Doug, It is on federal land. Im sure the visitor center will be closed. the parking lot (the main one where the heli pad is) hopefully remains open. If not its not hard or inconvienent to just walk across from the store or campgrounds... so even if the gate (is there one?) to the parking lot is closed and the visitor center and its lot, is Seneca still LEGALLY climbable?

Isn't the entry to the parking lot also the only entry to Roy Gap Road and the farm(s) that are to the east of Seneca?

I see that the Seneca Shadows campground will still be open because it's a "concessionaire-operated facility" (see tinyurl.com/ly4gte3 for a complete list).

Access to the National Forest will not be allowed. If someone were to try to access it they would be trespassing. Which is humorous because taxpayers technically own it.

This morning federal officers were escorting visitors from the C&O canal and barricading roads that crossed federally owned land... this is in MD.

good point Nick on the farms and Roy Gap rd.

so the main attraction (Seneca) is closed but the camp ground will remain open...So how smart is that from a spending point of view with tax payers money?

Jackson, thats crazy their doing that. good point about the taxpayers paying for the land that theyd be trespassing on. I didnt think of it that way.

JacksonLandFill wrote:Access to the National Forest will not be allowed. If someone were to try to access it they would be trespassing. Which is humorous because taxpayers technically own it. This morning federal officers were escorting visitors from the C&O canal and barricading roads that crossed federally owned land... this is in MD.

A recent news article, wvgazette.com/News/20130930…, claims that "the 919,000-acre Monongahela National Forest would remain open". They don't indicate their source for that information.

Does anyone know how access at Seneca and the New are actually being handled now that the shutdown has happened?

Thanks for sharing the article Nick.

Yeah!

Bump for Nicks question:

Does anyone know how access at Seneca and the New are actually being handled now that the shutdown has happened?

Act now, ask for forgiveness later. Police are more worried about kids smoking rocks than kids climbing rocks.

The Stoned Master wrote:Bump for Nicks question: Does anyone know how access at Seneca and the New are actually being handled now that the shutdown has happened?

I also posted the question to the NRAC (New River Alliance of Climbers) Facebook page. I saw a post from them re. the potential 2011 closure, and it would be good to know how it's being handled now.

Nick Nystrom wrote: A recent news article, wvgazette.com/News/20130930…, claims that "the 919,000-acre Monongahela National Forest would remain open". They don't indicate their source for that information. Does anyone know how access at Seneca and the New are actually being handled now that the shutdown has happened?

Thanks for sharing that, I was going off broadcasts from last night and this morning. BUT print is more tangible.

Call the ranger station? If they are federal officers someone should be there even if it's closed.

All things considered, I doubt there will be any effect to Seneca. Maybe call the Gendarme: 304 567 2600

There wasn't anything posted on their FB page.

I just called the Seneca discovery center and, although there's nothing on their site , the phone message confirms that the "Discovery center is closed due to the partial government shutdown." Not sure if this means that they will actively be blocking the parking lot or climbing access...

Update: as of noon on 10/2 The Gendarme's FB page is confirming that Seneca will be open for climbing.

Shadrock wrote:I just called the Seneca discovery center and, although there's nothing on their site , the phone message confirms that the "Discovery center is closed due to the partial government shutdown." Not sure if this means that they will actively be blocking the parking lot or climbing access... Update: as of noon on 10/2 The Gendarme's FB page is confirming that Seneca will be open for climbing.

Shadrock, thank you.

Independently, I phoned the Gendarme, also confirming that climbing at Seneca is currently fine.

They had rangers out at cape lookout national seashore telling the fishermen to go home, now how fucked is that?

All,

Seneca still looks fine for the weekend of 10/5-6, but I just got this message about what comes next from the good people at America Land & Leisure, who manage Seneca Shadows (the USFS campground):

"As of today, 10/4, the Monongahela National Forest is letting us stay open through the weekend. On Monday, 10/6, the Forest Service is supposed to receive new direction from Washington, D.C. That might include closing the campgrounds until the government shutdown ends. That means if your stay was planned for this weekend, you’re still “good to go.” If it’s planned for 10/6 or beyond, you will most likely receive another contact from next Monday telling you if we will be open or closed. Of course, if the shutdown miraculously ends over the weekend, it will be business as usual."

Nick,

That wouldn't mean that the rocks themselves are closed, right? And I'm sure Princess Snowbird would be open too since it's private...

Kirby wrote:Nick, That wouldn't mean that the rocks themselves are closed, right? And I'm sure Princess Snowbird would be open too since it's private...

The rocks are non-fee and non-gated, so based on last week's actions they would still be open, but last week's actions also included leaving concessionaire-operated campgrounds open. Not knowing the mind of the USFS, I think we have to wait and see.

Private campgrounds and lodging of course will be open, but they'll fill fast because it's a really busy weekend there and if the Shadows does close people will be shifting.