I saw a Tweet from The Washington Post made me angry, and embarrassed that people like this are from our area and represent "The 419" this way to the rest of the world.
It's cool to have "419" embossed in all of the new Jeep trucks. It's not cool to spray paint "The 419" on a rock in The Joshua Tree National Park as some vandals, apparently from our area, have done.
As the Government Shutdown becomes the longest in US history, entering week four, many National Parks have been closed due to lack of resources. At some park, trespassers and vandals are leaving their marks on what should be American treasures.
Shared widely on social media Thursday, the photos have sparked outrage over the plight of national parks that remain open amid a partial government shutdown, leaving them understaffed and vulnerable to the antics of unruly visitors. Parks nationwide have struggled to deal with a variety of issues ranging from rampant littering and overflowing public restrooms to the vandalism of habitats.
[Joshua Tree National Park] spans more than 1,200 square miles, straddling the Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert, but there are only eight law-enforcement rangers patrolling the vast landscape during the shutdown, National Parks Traveler, a nonprofit dedicated to news about national parks, reported.
“While the vast majority of those who visit Joshua Tree National Park do so in a responsible manner, there have been incidents of new roads being created by motorists and the destruction of Joshua trees in recent days that have precipitated the closure,” the Park Service release said.