03-17-2004, 11:10 PM
[size 4]Cost crunch will force national parks to slash services
By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
Visitors to national parks this summer will find reduced ranger staff, services and visitor center hours, say a pair of new reports by two groups critical of the Bush administration's park policy.
Though the budget for park services has continued to rise, spending for homeland security and additional expenditures to cover natural disasters have pinched the National Park Service and forced cost-cutting.
"We're on the verge of crossing the line to where the public will notice" service cuts, Park Service spokesman David Barna says.
Among the trouble spots, according to the National Parks Conservancy Association:
• Maine's Acadia National Park is trimming about 20% of the park's summer staff.
• Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania must deny staff-led program requests from one of every four schools.
• Death Valley National Park in California has sporadic trash pickup because of staffing cuts.
Today, the Coalition of Concerned National Park Retirees will reveal what it calls previously undisclosed cuts that have resulted in the removal of lifeguards from beaches and trimmed visitor center hours. The non-partisan group of about 200 former park workers and executives has been critical of the Bush administration's parks policy.
Meanwhile, a report by the National Parks Conservation Association, a non-partisan park watchdog group, says budget shortfalls are "crippling" parks, and staffing is reaching "crisis proportions."
"A record number of Americans is going to visit the national parks this summer, and they're going to be disappointed," says Ron Tipton, the association's senior vice president. The group released the report as Congress prepares to debate next year's budget for the Park Service.
Although budgets have been rising - to $1.61 billion in fiscal 2004 from $1.56 billion in 2003 - increases have been absorbed by expenses, the Park Service says.
Homeland security cuts into spending "big time," the Park Service's Barna says. "When it goes from code yellow to orange, we bring over 200 rangers East to help guard monuments. It costs about $1 million a month." Hurricanes and a heavy wildfire season drained 2003 budgets, too.
The Park Service has tried to offset new expenses by raising fees and using volunteers to help visitors at its 387 parks. But even these measures aren't enough.
Says Jeff McFarland, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers: "Frequently, a visitor will not see a ranger" during a visit to a national park.
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By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY
Visitors to national parks this summer will find reduced ranger staff, services and visitor center hours, say a pair of new reports by two groups critical of the Bush administration's park policy.
Though the budget for park services has continued to rise, spending for homeland security and additional expenditures to cover natural disasters have pinched the National Park Service and forced cost-cutting.
"We're on the verge of crossing the line to where the public will notice" service cuts, Park Service spokesman David Barna says.
Among the trouble spots, according to the National Parks Conservancy Association:
• Maine's Acadia National Park is trimming about 20% of the park's summer staff.
• Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania must deny staff-led program requests from one of every four schools.
• Death Valley National Park in California has sporadic trash pickup because of staffing cuts.
Today, the Coalition of Concerned National Park Retirees will reveal what it calls previously undisclosed cuts that have resulted in the removal of lifeguards from beaches and trimmed visitor center hours. The non-partisan group of about 200 former park workers and executives has been critical of the Bush administration's parks policy.
Meanwhile, a report by the National Parks Conservation Association, a non-partisan park watchdog group, says budget shortfalls are "crippling" parks, and staffing is reaching "crisis proportions."
"A record number of Americans is going to visit the national parks this summer, and they're going to be disappointed," says Ron Tipton, the association's senior vice president. The group released the report as Congress prepares to debate next year's budget for the Park Service.
Although budgets have been rising - to $1.61 billion in fiscal 2004 from $1.56 billion in 2003 - increases have been absorbed by expenses, the Park Service says.
Homeland security cuts into spending "big time," the Park Service's Barna says. "When it goes from code yellow to orange, we bring over 200 rangers East to help guard monuments. It costs about $1 million a month." Hurricanes and a heavy wildfire season drained 2003 budgets, too.
The Park Service has tried to offset new expenses by raising fees and using volunteers to help visitors at its 387 parks. But even these measures aren't enough.
Says Jeff McFarland, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers: "Frequently, a visitor will not see a ranger" during a visit to a national park.
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