Nonprofits join to keep Arizona Memorial open — for now

Nonprofits helped keep the USS Arizona Memorial open Saturday while some national parks in Hawaii partly closed because of the federal government shutdown.

All Pearl Harbor historic sites, including the USS Arizona Memorial, will remain open during normal business hours through Monday, said Anne Murata, spokeswoman for the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor.

She said four nonprofits that support the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument — home to the USS Arizona Memorial — paid to keep the park open. Those nonprofits are Pacific Historic Parks, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, the Battleship Missouri Memorial and the Pacific Aviation Museum.

“We’re funding the park for the three days (Saturday through Monday) that the federal government is unfunded,” Murata said Saturday.

She said if the shutdown continues, the nonprofits will meet Monday evening to decide what to do in the days ahead, adding that the nonprofit sites will remain open even if the USS Arizona Memorial closes.

Jason Blount, spokesman for the WWII Valor in the Pacific monument, said the National Park Service was able to keep the USS Arizona Memorial open “thanks to the generous support of our private nonprofit partners.”

Online ticket reservations, however, at recreation.gov are not available “due to a lapse in funding for the federal government,” the website said.

Reservations for the USS Arizona Memorial already in the system will be honored, Blount said.

Tickets to the memorial will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis daily, beginning at 7 a.m., he added.

Meanwhile, the government’s shutdown closed parts of other national parks in Hawaii.

On Hawaii island, most of Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park was closed for public safety due to the lapse in federal funding and the ongoing eruption of Kilauea Volcano at the summit and from the Puu Oo vent, said Jessica Ferracane, park spokeswoman.

She said in an email that “the hazards associated with the active volcano pose a significant risk to the safety of visitors in the absence of National Park Service staff.”

Closed are the entire summit area of Kilauea, Crater Rim Drive, Chain of Craters Road and the active lava flow within the park boundary.

Areas that remain open are: Highway 11 through the park and Mauna Loa Road to Kipukapuaulu, along with Kipukapuaulu Trail, the day use area, and the tree molds. Kau Desert Trail is open to the Footprints exhibit shelter.

Access may change without notice, and there are no NPS-provided services, Ferracane said.

Guests at Volcano House and Kilauea Military Camp must leave by Monday morning, and the Volcano Art Center Gallery is closed, she said.

On Maui, Haleakala National Park closed its visitor centers and restrooms, but will keep its trails open during the federal shutdown, a park spokeswoman said.

The park’s summit district — popular at sunrise — will close from 3 to 7 a.m. daily and remain open at other times.

Those with camping permits for backcountry cabins should make other plans and seek a refund after the government reopens, the park said.

During the closure, limited emergency response will be available on the trails.

Also on Saturday, U.S. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Colleen Hanabusa vowed not to accept their salaries during the shutdown.