Photo by Eric Purcell

People planning a trip to see the federal government’s collection of trees and other flora might need to reschedule. Because of the mandatory budget cuts known as sequestration, the National Arboretum is preparing to cut back the number of hours it is open to the public.

Beginning next week, the arboretum will be closed to the public from Tuesday to Thursday. It will also begin charging fees for admission and space rentals. The measures are in response to forced budget cuts to the federal Agricultural Research Service, a U.S. Agriculture Department bureau that operates the arboretum.

Contrary to earlier reports by several media organizations, including DCist, the arboretum will not be charging an entrance fee, the facility’s director, Colien Hefferan, writes in an email. “General visitation to the arboretum will continue to be free and open to the public,” she writes, while the arboretum will continue to charge for meeting space rentals.

The arboretum will also forgo filling several “critical” vacant staff positions, according to a memo from Colien Hefferan. The decision to close from Tuesday to Thursday is being made to minimize the sequestration’s impact on the arboretum’s core research functions. Most recreational visits, Hefferan writes, occur on weekends.

Sequestration is affecting many of the federal government’s facilities that bring tourists to D.C. The Smithsonian Institution announced last week that it is closing parts of the Hirshhorn, National Museum of African Art, and Smithsonian Castle because of forced budget cuts that last through the end of the current fiscal year.