After strong reaction from around Wyoming, the United States and international travelers, Devils Tower National Monument says it had an oops moment last week when it announced the park would no longer be open 24/7
The sudden and unexpected bulletin posted Tuesday said that starting Thursday, the popular monument in northeast Wyoming would change its hours from open all day, every day to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the area closed overnight.
What Devils Tower officials didn’t say was the nighttime closure is temporary, nor what prompted it. Turns out, the overnight closure is in effect through March 30 and won’t impact the upcoming summer tourism season.
Oops.
Without that information, a whirlwind of reaction and speculation was generated, with the most prevalent being that the move was a protest of cuts made by President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency.
Not knowing the partial closure is temporary, state Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, whose family has lived in the shadow of the tower for generations, called the decision last week “stupidity at the highest levels.”
He also pointed out the impacts such a dramatic change to Devils Tower policy could have for local businesses.
Now that the monument has clarified the closure is temporary, Driskill says that’s good news, but that it’s an example of how government agencies can unintentionally foster distrust.
“It all seems kind of strange,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “I don’t know if it was an oversight or not, but it went the right way in the end. It took them a week, but they got it cleaned up.
“It was a sad deal and it kind of panicked us and some other people.”
Reaction
Attempts to contact officials at Devils Tower National Monument were unsuccessful.
Devils Tower cleared up the confusion with a Facebook post Friday, along with an alert on its official website. Along with information that the overnight closures are temporary, the monument says the reason for the action is to make “minor road repairs.”
“Thank you for all the comments and concerns regarding our recent post about our change in hours,” the post reads. “We appreciate that so many people around the country and world are paying attention to the phenomenal resources at Devils Tower National Monument.
“We at the park apologize for not being more clear. The change in our hours is a temporary condition. This change will be in effect only through March 30, after which park hours will return to being open 24 hours a day.”
Not everybody believes the statement that the original announcement wasn’t deliberately misleading.
“Huge political stunt!!! You misled so many people, and come to find out, it’s for road repairs. Not cool,” responded Mary Dixon.
Kim Morrissey had a similar take: “Interesting how you could have cleared this up within minutes of posting, but chose not to. Says everything about your intent.”
Others like Megan Burbach had the national monument’s back.
“I guarantee the 80% of people insulting this park and employees don’t go to the parks nor care to help the parks to ensure they can stay open,” she posted. “You all just want to complain because you can. It’s super easy to volunteer at parks. I suggest you all do it.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
