Pence Yellowstone Visit Set for Thursday

A head’s-up if you’re planning a trip to Yellowstone National Park tomorrow: A Mike Pence Yellowstone visit is set for June 13, as the Vice President will fly into Yellowstone Airport in West Yellowstone and then proceed to the Old Faithful area and the Old Faithful Visitors Center.

Visits from high-ranking dignitaries usually result in traffic snags and closed facilities due to security sweeps, and if you’re planning on hitting the Old Faithful area tomorrow morning, expect some inconveniences posed by the Pence Yellowstone visit. He’ll be accompanied by the Second Lady, Karen Pence, and Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt.

After a tour of Old Faithful, Pence will deliver remarks at Old Faithful Visitors Center on the Trump administration’s programs to rebuild National Park infrastructure.

Here’s the official literary for the Pence Yellowstone visit, as released by the Vice President’s office:

10 a.m.: Air Force Two arrives at Yellowstone Airport, West Yellowstone
11:30 a.m.: Vice President Pence arrives at Yellowstone National Park, tours the area and then delivers remarks

Beware: the Old Faithful Visitor Center and portions of the Upper Geyser Basin will be closed to the public between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., according to NPS officials.

The issue of infrastructure in Yellowstone National Park is always a hot topic: there’s a tremendous backlog of needed work, and no one seems to have a clear plan to address the backlog. On June 5 the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced $321.4 million in Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects (NSFLTP) grants across the country, including $27.8 million for reconstruction and upgrades to several miles of roads near the North Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. That certainly will be a topic Pence covers.