Sequester takes its toll on Mall, park police and Smithsonian museums The Mall, Washington's oft-trampled symbol of democracy and its most-visited national park, heads into the summer tourist season with no Fourth of July concert, fewer Park Police officers and a whole lot of uncollected trash - all results of the spending cuts coursing through parks, museums and other cultural destinations that people come to see in the capital city. The cuts may not be drastic, but they're troubling to tourists, advocates for the arts and other critics of the budget impasse in Congress that put the across-the-board reductions known as sequestration in place two months ago. How sequestration will impact federal departments More from PostPolitics Rachel Weiner Emily Heil and Al Kamen With the addition of two more nominees, Obama's second-term Cabinet is less diverse than his first. Glenn Kessler "The leisure traveler is a very emotional traveler," said John Stachnik, president of Chicago-based Mayflower Tours, which books eight-day trips to the D.C. area. They're skittish. Potential visitors are expressing reservations about visiting Washington this summer, he said. If an exhibit in the Smithsonian is closing, the only thing they remember is: The Smithsonian is closing. The Smithsonian shuttered three exhibit areas Wednesday, in the National Museum of African Art, the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. All were victims of a scaled-back security contract. The District's most high-profile cut took effect as soon as sequestration took an $85 billion hatchet to the government: the cancellation of White House tours because of reduced Secret Service staffing. With no budget deficit deal between Republicans and Democrats on the table, no one can say when the public will get inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. again. Only 3 percent of the 18 million visitors to Washington every year go on a White House tour, because they must be arranged well in advance with members of Congress. But the visitor experience is facing other indignities. The National Archives - home of the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence - has slashed evening hours. The National Arboretum will close to the public Tuesday through Thursday starting May 13, and it will charge entrance and rental fees. In the grand scheme of things, these are nicks rather than gouges. As Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas put it, we are still talking about free, world-class museums. "Three rooms inside the 16 Smithsonian museums will be closed," she said. Millions of objects will still be available to see. But others say the closings have a symbolism that goes deeper than three small exhibits. "You have to wonder, what is the impact when the Washington Monument is closed and the bathrooms are kind of crummy?" asked John Garder, a budget expert for the National Parks Conservation Association. Will people want to come back? Outside downtown D.C., many of the 14 parks in the region are scaling back services from seasonal rangers to Park Police officers. Visitors to Robert E. Lee's former home in the Arlington National Cemetery or the Catoctin Mountain Park near Camp David will find the visitor centers closed on weekdays. Carter Barron, Rock Creek Park and Fort Dupont are scaling back summer concerts and theater programs. Antietam National Battlefield cut its living-history program by half.