U.S. national parks are losing millions a day as the government shutdown becomes the second-longest in history at just over three weeks. The Great Smoky Mountains—consistently the most-visited national park in the U.S.—faces the most losses in daily visitor spending. The park currently does not collect entrance fees, which are $20 per person and $35 per vehicle, despite being open and fully operational during the shutdown.

Keeping the Smokies open was a financial agreement between Mayor Larry Waters of Sevier County, Tennessee and other local leaders. However, they've only worked on keeping the park fully operational until November 2. Now they're worried the federal shutdown could go beyond that, for which they have no plans yet. Advocates, on the other hand, continue to push for clos

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