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Federal Employees Back To Work, Parks Reopen After Shutdown

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Federal workers glad to be going back to work Thursday in Detroit, after a budget deal was reached in Washington last night to end the government shutdown.

"I'm actually glad that it's over," said Mary Foster, on her way to her job at the McNamara Federal Building downtown."Now government workers can return to business as usual, serving the American people."

Foster said, however, she still worries what will happen when time runs out for this stop-gap measure — a temporary budget agreement — in a few months.

"There's a lot of uncertainty right now," Foster said. "It will come back up again in January, but we'll see what happens."

Thousands of workers in Detroit and across Michigan were furloughed during the shutdown.

Michigan's four national parks are also back in business as of Thursday morning.

Officials with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Isle Royale National Park and Keweenaw National Historical Park said Thursday they're up and running.

Although all national parks were officially off-limits during the 16-day partial shutdown, the closure was widely ignored at Sleeping Bear Dunes, where people made frequent use of hiking trails.

But officials said barriers that had limited access in some places were being removed.

Also reopening are Michigan's national forests. Ken Arbogast of Huron-Manistee National Forest said its campgrounds are closed for the season but offices will reopen Friday to handle matters such as issuing permits to cut firewood.

Also reopening following the shutdown are the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids and the presidential library in Ann Arbor — part of the federal National Archives and Records Administration.

Both are back open Thursday, although the presidential library says a public program scheduled for Thursday evening is cancelled.

MORE: Government Reopens After Congress Ends 16-Day Shutdown

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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