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National Parks Conservation Association says federal budget cuts threaten services, maintenance and economies of gateway communities
- Colorado National Monument. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site is one of the places at risk if federal budgets are cut across the board. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — National Parks in the U.S. could take a huge hit in the coming years if the Congressional Super Committee fails and mandatory across-the-board cuts are made to the federal budget.
Failure to agree on a new budget would result in across-the-board reductions of about 9 percent, amounting to a $231 million cut to the National Park Service — devastating to many national parks, visitors, and the communities and businesses that depend on them, according to Craig Obey, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association.
The parks advocacy group has released a new report that outlines the potential impacts, finding that additional budget cuts could jeopardize visitor services at national parks across the country.
“Of course we need to fix our deficit problems. But cutting national parks budgets will have about as much impact on the deficit as a bucket full of rocks would have on filling the Grand Canyon, and it would cost jobs, hurt communities, and mar our national heritage,” said Obey.
The report — Made in America: Investing in National Parks for Our Heritage and Our Economy — also finds that investing in national parks not only protects our national heritage, but is critical to supporting the livelihood of businesses and communities across the country.
“If the Super Committee process fails there will be real consequences for our national parks, jobs, visitors, and communities across the country,” said Craig Obey, NPCA senior vice president of government affairs. “The federal deficit debate should be about smart budgeting that strengthens communities, produces jobs, and protects the heritage that binds us as a national community.”
In the past two years, park visitation has been higher than it has been in a decade—yet national parks suffer from an annual operations shortfall of $500-$600 million, and receive $325 million less per year than necessary to keep an $11 billion maintenance backlog from getting worse. Further cuts could mean fewer rangers to greet visitors, reduced visitor center hours, shortened campground seasons, closure of entrance stations and backcountry trails, fewer educational programs, and reduced law enforcement patrols to safeguard America’s heritage.
The overall appropriation for the National Park Service is nearly $400 million (or 13 percent) less than it was 10 years ago. In Fiscal Year 2011, park service funding was cut about $140 million, including an $11.5 million reduction for operations.
“In Los Alamos, we’re blessed to be close to Bandelier National Monument. For us, it’s a critical part of our economic well-being as well as our quality of life,” said Kevin Holsapple, executive director for the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce in New Mexico. “I’m sure we’re not alone in being supportive of the idea of keeping parks and park operations healthy. It keeps this area a place where people want to live, and it keeps people coming back to invest in our community.”
According to a recent NPCA study, every federal dollar invested in national parks generates at least four dollars of economic value to the public. National parks support $13.3 billion of direct local private-sector economic activity and 267,000 private-sector jobs. Cuts to park operations, construction and land acquisition could mean direct job losses and impair the places that American families rely on as affordable vacation destinations each year.
“As a two-term mayor for a county that is a gateway to one of the most visited national parks in the system, the Great Smoky Mountains, it was abundantly clear to me how critically important national parks are to local economies such as ours,” said Iliff McMahan, former Mayor of Cocke County in Tennessee. “In a challenging economy, we must maintain a capital investment in the future of our parks; it’s just smart business. And we owe it to our children to protect that legacy.”
Recent polling shows that 85 percent of voters surveyed favor giving national parks enough funding so they are fully restored and ready to serve the public for the next 100 years, as evidenced by the more than 100,000 people who recently signed a petition calling on Congress to protect park budgets.
Filed under: national parks, public lands Tagged: | congressional super committee, federal budget, National Park Service, National Parks Conservation Association, Summit County News, United States
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Nice article, good info here, we really don’t want this to happen, it would be one of the biggest mistakes we make as Americans.
These cuts both define and suggest a solution to the issue of how National Parks should be managed. Right now, they are conceived and operated as wilderness Disneyland resorts, with facilities and infrastructure designed to attract tourist visits and dollars. The conflict in mission and damage to the environment is obvious. The NPS stands alone as a bastion of federal government and fails to achieve partnership or communication with local governments or communities.
The solution is to develop those partnerships and open those lines of communication to attract support. That means that facilities and infrastructure for OHV use must be included in National Park planning and opportunity. For every nuclear family with Mom, Dad, and 2.1 kids, there are a hundred OHV users that are denied access to National Parks. Controlled, sustainable OHV access with appropriate attention to Education, Engineering, Enforcement, and Evaluation in a continuous cycle of application and improvement will protect these pristine environments – which by the way are not very pristine, just in case you have missed the circus that most private concessions allowed to operate in National Parks create – and gain the support of a huge group of enthusiasts and communitieswho want to participate in conservation, environmental protection, and outdoor recreation in a meaningful way.
Adapt and survive – that is how the National Parks will overcome the mess that our federal government has created with unsustainable debt, waste, and privileged earmarks. You think Congress is going to save them? Not a chance, they are not profit center for big corporations. Only facing the realities and changing the operating protocols will save this valuable resource. It is being protected by the wrong people from the wrong things by the wrong policies and it is time for that to change if the National Park system is to survive.
Interesting, but I don’t think motorized use in most national parks is the answer to this. But your point about excessive development is well-taken. I know the NPS recently spent many millions building fancy new “trophy” visitor centers at several parks, and I question if that’s the appropriate use of resources, given the current budget situation.
I agree with Mark on the “ideals” and ways of thinking. However, I absolutely don’t want to see any sort of OHV usage in NP’s. But I would certainly work with him, or others like him, to try and revamp the system. It needs a serious and thorough cleaning and getting rid of the waste, much like most of our government. Get rid of the leachers and individuals taking advantage of the system. We need to work hard together to make our parks, our gov’t, and our country, great again.