Three companies have agreed to collectively donate funds to pay for operations in Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County through Oct. 31. National parks across the country have been closed since the federal government shut down Oct. 1.

Operational costs are being covered by the Muir Woods Trading Company, which operates the park’s gift shop and cafe; Ace Parking, which runs a shuttle service into the park from remote lots; and the tour company Must See Tours.

Their donations will cover power and water bills, as well as the salaries for about 20 furloughed park rangers and maintenance staff. National Park Service law enforcement officials were exempt from funding cuts associated with the federal shutdown and have remained on duty. Volunteers with the nonprofit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy staff the bookstore.

“The National Park is very important for the community and our local businesses,” said Faycal Bouabdallah, founder and CEO of Must See Tours, which runs morning and  afternoon tours of the park daily. “The park and staff have given so much to me and the community and I wanted to make sure that I gave back.”

According to the nonprofit advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association, since January, the National Park Service has lost more than 25% of its permanent staff. 

The park service will not be collecting the usual $15 per person entrance fee at the Muir Woods National Monument park through Oct. 31.

Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.