When Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, visited Joshua Tree National Park on Jan. 21, he noticed dog owners letting their pets roam off leash — and not picking up the resulting excrement.

When he reminded a group of park guests of the importance of maintaining the park, particularly because its normal clean-up crew has been furloughed since the partial government shutdown on Dec. 22, they rebuffed him with under-their-breath mutters, making it clear they had no intention of leashing or picking up after their dogs.

To protect the natural environment, Joshua Tree National Park requires pet owners to keep dogs on leashes at all times in and around the park’s campgrounds, roads and picnic areas. Normally, rangers roam the park to remind guests of the rules put in place to protect the park for generations to come, but since the government shut down, the park has been staffed with only a skeleton crew.

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Ruiz visited Joshua Tree on Monday to "get [his] hands dirty," he said, by picking up trash left by park guests.

The congressman collected crumpled newspapers, butane tanks, and food wrappers as an entourage of press, staff and representatives from local environmental groups followed behind.

“This is a way to engage in a more personal, direct level, and to not be the guy who sits in an office contemplating theoretical issues, but to be in the field with the people and with the environment; to do everything possible that I can to mitigate the effects of this reckless and irresponsible shutdown,” he said.

Ruiz roamed the park asking guests questions about what they’ve noticed since the government shut down. He asked Chris Kaiser, a hiker who has been camping in the park since Christmas, if he had observed changes throughout the duration of the shutdown.

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Kaiser said he and other campers talked around the campfire about the shutdown’s effect on the environment, and were worried about the damage being done to the park. That said, Kaiser said he is encouraged by the many volunteers, climbers and campers working to protect the park, cleaning up, and distributing hand-sanitizer.

“When the government shutdown first happened, there was a lapse in security, refreshing the toilets, emptying the trash, but it seemed like the volunteers really stepped it up,” Kaiser told Ruiz. “These are just people who genuinely care, it’s been nice to see.”

About 16 percent of park service staff nationwide has remained on duty. Joshua Tree has not collected entrance fees from park visitors and has lost about $700,000 in revenue. The park's namesake Joshua Trees, an endangered plant species, were chopped down. Toilets and trash cans have overflowed.

Chris Clarke of the National Parks Conservation Association said he found it heart-wrenching to see the damage done to the park. Although many businesses surrounding the park depend on tourists, NPCA's stance is that the government should close the park to prevent damage.

"My desire to see the park treated well sometimes makes things a little uncomfortable," he said. "But 99 percent of the people who visit the park are here because they want to see this treasure and they don’t want to erode it."

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When asked if the park should close for the duration of the shutdown, Ruiz said he did not know but had weighed the potential benefits and consequences.

"You have to consider the benefits of visitors to our local economy and the revenue that can perhaps be used to help the volunteers clean up the park versus the unwanted damage and accidents that may occur," he said.

If the park closed, the National Parks Service would need to ensure that visitors wouldn't enter regardless, Ruiz said.

"If we do shut down we have to figure out a way to prevent people from trying to enter the park in a way that’s going to cause even more damage. At least this way, they can use roads and not go off-roading in areas that could cause more damage," he said.

Because the current government shutdown is the country’s fourth since 2013, Ruiz said the community should put plans in place to protect the park in case of future shutdowns.

“Nobody wants to even think about preparing for another shutdown, but we can’t be naive and think that another shutdown will never occur, especially when you have hyper-partisans who want to use shutdowns as leverage to get what they want,” he said. “We should start to think ahead of time about how we can organize with nonprofits and community organizations so there’s an organized way to maintain and clean up these national parks.”

Sam Metz covers politics. Reach him at samuel.metz@desertsun.com or on Twitter @metzsam.