The federal government shut down at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday after Congress failed to pass stop-gap funding by Tuesday’s deadline.

And with hours to go, the National Park Service shared a last-minute contingency plan that would keep many park sites open but without full staffing.

According to an internal NPS memo obtained by KQED, national park sites that can be made physically inaccessible to the public will be closed off. But all other NPS sites, including those with roads and trails that are accessible to the public, will now remain open according to the memo.

An expanded version of the NPS plan was posted online later Tuesday, with an estimate that over 9,000 staff nationwide — out of a total NPS workforce of 14,500 — are expected to be furloughed in the event of a shutdown.

The

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