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Smokies park service back to work after three-day government shutdown

Rangers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are back to work after lawmakers were able to come to a short-term agreement to end a three-day government shutdown.
The closed Sugarlands Visitor Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is back up and running in full capacity after a government shutdown put hundreds of thousands of federal employees on furlough for a few days.

Even though the Smokies were still open during the shutdown, all rangers and other federal workers are back on the job in the park providing services that were sorely missed this weekend.

The same is true for National Parks across the nation. The NPS said all parks have resumed regular operations nationwide, thanking state and local partners who offered support over the past few days.

During the shutdown, volunteers were also stepping up to help fill in a few of the gaps left behind. One example was Steve Ellis from Sevierville, who spent much of Sunday guiding and helping visitors from across the U.S. who came to the park unaware the shutdown had put most of its workers on furlough.

►READ MORE: Sevierville man steps up to help travelers during shutdown in the Smokies

The shutdown lasted all of three days from the stroke of midnight when Saturday began through Monday. Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. were able to come to a short-term agreement to fund the government through Feb. 8.

Democrats agreed to support the funding bill after winning a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to bring up an immigration bill on Feb. 8 — or before then if there’s bipartisan consensus around a specific proposal.

►READ MORE: Congress solved the shutdown but deep spending and immigration disputes remain.

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