Business owners help national park stay clean during government shutdown

STINSON BEACH, California -- Business owners pitched in to help keep a national park clean and open during the government shutdown.

But people can thank, in large part, Mary Margaret Stewart.

"To me it is important. To the community it is important," said the Siren Canteen owner.

Business boomed on Martin Luther King Day, but only because Stewart and others in Stinson Beach decided to pick up where the government has dropped the ball. They are paying to keep the parking lot open, the trash picked up, the restrooms clean, and for a ranger.

The Muir Woods National Monument also had plenty of visitors. They paid for parking, got the run of the place for free, and ventured opinions as well.

"I am grateful it is open, but the government should be paying for this," said community member Jessica York.

At Stinson Beach, the Siren Canteen had the look and feel of a business in protest just by remaining open. Because it did, eight people had jobs and incomes. That's a form of economics trickling down because the owner keeps paddling upstream.

Their actions also come with a message.

"That we won't sit around and wait for you to have your temper tantrum," said Jared Katzman, on the beach below. "We're going to get on with our lives and do what we need to do."

For this national park, no government shutdown is going to threaten a perfect day at the beach.