Right now, people can still access the grounds but all management offices are closed since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not able to staff its properties.

Volunteers from the area are now stepping in to help check on restrooms and other facilities on the property to make sure no one is damaging the park.

Manager Heath Hamilton says, “Tree planting, restoring native prairie habitat, restoring wetlands, paying our contractors to do those types of things are all on hold.”

The property is more than 10,000 acres and trail and parking lot maintenance is not able to be completed. Even volunteers can’t continue their duties.

“We rely on volunteers and interns to make our operation go here at the refuge, and as of right now, the volunteers can’t come in and do their work and the interns can’t come in and do their work so they’re on hold,” says Hamilton.

The hold is stopping habitat restoration, posting boundary signs, and biological programs. Those who hunt, fish and hike at the refuge must adventure through on their own.

“People are out there at their own risk right now with maybe not all the information that they might need to safely navigate the properties,” says Hamilton.