Posted: October 07, 2013

Boaters protest on Las Vegas strip over US government shutdown

A caravan of 20 boats on the Las Vegas Strip yesterday protested the shutdown of the US government. The boating protesters, comprised of local dealers and business owners that have been impacted by the closure of Lake Mead to boating traffic, said the shutdown is impacting their businesses on Lake Mead.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area is part of the national park service. The government shutdown has meant that park rangers overseeing the boat ramps have been furloughed.

On Sunday, members of the Lake Mead Community took their protests to the gambling mecca of Las Vegas. Marine business owners said the shutdown is hurting business in the heart of their boating season.

“You keep hearing about 800,000 government workers out of work, yet not so much about the private sector & the tour operators & the other businesses affected by that,” Stuart Litjens, owner of Boulder Boats, told the local Fox News affiliate. Litjens, who says that if the shutdown continues for a month, he will lose about US$500,000 in boat sales. He and others are demanding that the park be reopened.

Kim Kelch, owner of Above All Las Vegas NV ATV Tours & Watercraft Rentals, said the shutdown has forced her business to close a month before her season typically ends. In the desert state, there is nowhere else to ride personal watercraft. Kelch said the money ceded from lost rentals “will really hurt” her business.

The Fox reporter commented that empty Lake Mead yesterday “looked very strange with no boats.”