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Voyageurs National Park receives donation, brings some staff back

Only two to three people have been working at the park since the shutdown, and they're in charge of patrolling and maintaining 218,000 acres of land.

Minnesota only has one national park. 

It's called Voyageurs National Park, and it's located in International Falls. The park has just a few staff working right now, because of the government shutdown. 

Only two to three people have been working at the park during the shutdown, and they're in charge of patrolling and maintaining 218,000 acres of land, according to the Voyageurs National Park Association, which is the official non-profit organization of the park.

If the park is lucky enough to have three people on a shift, that would still be almost 73,000 acres that each person is responsible for. It would take over an entire day to walk a perimeter that large.

Luckily, the park and its few remaining staff aren't alone - they're getting some help in the form of donated money. More money means that more of the park's staff can come back to work. 

The money came just in time. 

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"This is the time of year where people are getting out they're recreating in Voyageurs National Park by snowmobile by cross country ski by ice fishing," Christina Hausman executive director of the Voyageurs National Park Association said. "So we need to make sure that they can do that in a safe way."

The group is donating $5,000 to the park so that it can add more staff and open the Rainy Lake Visitor Center starting this weekend.

Unlike some national parks, Voyageurs cannot be barricaded off. People are going to visit anyways, so the association wants to make sure it's safe.

But the association has a warning. Just because more staff members are coming back doesn't mean that all the roads will be plowed. Also, emergencies may still take a long time for the limited staff to get to, so be careful if you're going to the park.

"That outdoor heritage is important to us and we need to speak up for our National Parks during the shutdown and take care of them as best we can," Hausman said.

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