Federal Shutdown Stops Ranger Tours, Food Aid has Funds for Three Weeks

The federal government shutdown has sent employees of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor home on furlough, and could threaten SNAP (Food Stamp) benefits if it lasts into next month. 

By noon, all personnel at the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor headquarters at 1 Depot Square in Woonsocket had cleared out in response to the federal government shutdown.

Websites for the National Parks Services and the US Census Bureau are off-line.

Republican Congressmen have demanded changes in the Affordable Care Act, passed into law in March 2010, as the price for their vote on essential federal funding, and President Barack Obama and Democrats have refused. The stalemate resulted in the shutdown of most federal government services today.

The politically independent GAO (Government Accounting Office) says the healthcare law will not add to the deficit, as long as cost-saving measures in it are left alone. In 2012, the US Supreme Court upheld most of the law.

Jennifer Smith, acting director for the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, said the shutdown has put the six employees of her office, including herself, on furlough. 

During the shutdown, there will be no ranger tours, and the Corridor's involvement in many annual fall events is suspended. No officials from Smith's office will participate in planning for several fall festivals in the Blackstone River Valley area, she said.

Efforts to create a permanent National Park within the Blackstone Valley are also on hold. Smith said she and her colleagues want to get back to work helping the public enjoy the natural beauty of the Blackstone River Valley.

Food assistance will continue unaffected for another three weeks. There are about 696 households, totaling 1,079 individuals in Smithfield receiving SNAP (Food Stamp) aid, said Frederick Sneesby, spokesman for the state Department of Human Services.  

Sneesby said next month, however, food assistance will run out if the government stays shut down.