tanya
03-04-2007, 10:56 AM
Our national parks are hurting.
The National Park Service operating budget, adjusted for inflation, has dropped nearly 20 percent in the past 25 years. There are fewer park rangers and education programs. Visitors find crumbling roads, outdated displays and poorly maintained campgrounds and trails.
All of this is detailed in "Faded Glory," a 2005 report from the National Parks Conservation Association, which concluded that the nation's parks have been "withering for years, suffering without sufficient staff and operating funds."
The nation faced a similar situation after World War II. Then, as now, the parks suffered neglect, deterioration and budget cutbacks. Then, as now, fixing things required a lot more than a one-year budget increase.
So in 1956, parks director Conrad Wirth launched a 10-year project called "Mission 66" to prepare the parks for their 50th anniversary in 1966. The aim, wrote Wirth, was to "overcome the inroads of neglect and to restore to the American people a National Park System adequate for their needs." Though Congress had to approve annual appropriations, President Eisenhower asked for funding to cover an entire decade. Congress followed through each year.
It will take a similar 10-year commitment to restore the parks today for their 100th anniversary in 2016. The nation is already a year behind in what should have been a decade-long undertaking, so we need to do a march in quick-time to catch up.
Members of Congress, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, introduced a National Park Centennial Act in 2005. It went nowhere. But things have changed. Democrats now control Congress, and Feinstein chairs the Senate's Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior.
There also is a new secretary of the interior, Dirk Kempthorne, who announced a "National Park Centennial Initiative" last month.
By the Park Service's 100th birthday, Kempthorne said, "There will be new and improved visitor centers, trails, campgrounds and other facilities; more ranger-led programs; greater volunteerism and philanthropy." The initiative starts with the first year of a 10-year funding request that President Bush has sent to Congress. All 390 national parks will benefit from increased funding for park programs and projects.
This is good news indeed. A one-year budget blip can't restore the parks' lost luster. That will take a sustained, cumulative commitment.
As with Mission 66 a half-century ago, Kempthorne has made it clear that the upcoming 100th anniversary provides a "great opportunity to think big, to act boldly on behalf of national parks, to develop a 10-year plan to prepare national parks for the future."
One 21st century idea worth spreading is the free shuttle system pioneered in 2000 by Zion National Park in Utah. Traffic, noise and exhaust diminish the parks. It's time to get people out of their cars and into shuttles. Grand Teton and Grand Canyon are moving in this direction. The next step is to take the shuttle systemwide.
The creation of national parks is a unique American contribution to the world, but the nation has become complacent. To prepare for the 100th anniversary, we need to stop taking our national parks for granted and take steps to restore their luster for a second century.
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/131846.html
The National Park Service operating budget, adjusted for inflation, has dropped nearly 20 percent in the past 25 years. There are fewer park rangers and education programs. Visitors find crumbling roads, outdated displays and poorly maintained campgrounds and trails.
All of this is detailed in "Faded Glory," a 2005 report from the National Parks Conservation Association, which concluded that the nation's parks have been "withering for years, suffering without sufficient staff and operating funds."
The nation faced a similar situation after World War II. Then, as now, the parks suffered neglect, deterioration and budget cutbacks. Then, as now, fixing things required a lot more than a one-year budget increase.
So in 1956, parks director Conrad Wirth launched a 10-year project called "Mission 66" to prepare the parks for their 50th anniversary in 1966. The aim, wrote Wirth, was to "overcome the inroads of neglect and to restore to the American people a National Park System adequate for their needs." Though Congress had to approve annual appropriations, President Eisenhower asked for funding to cover an entire decade. Congress followed through each year.
It will take a similar 10-year commitment to restore the parks today for their 100th anniversary in 2016. The nation is already a year behind in what should have been a decade-long undertaking, so we need to do a march in quick-time to catch up.
Members of Congress, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, introduced a National Park Centennial Act in 2005. It went nowhere. But things have changed. Democrats now control Congress, and Feinstein chairs the Senate's Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior.
There also is a new secretary of the interior, Dirk Kempthorne, who announced a "National Park Centennial Initiative" last month.
By the Park Service's 100th birthday, Kempthorne said, "There will be new and improved visitor centers, trails, campgrounds and other facilities; more ranger-led programs; greater volunteerism and philanthropy." The initiative starts with the first year of a 10-year funding request that President Bush has sent to Congress. All 390 national parks will benefit from increased funding for park programs and projects.
This is good news indeed. A one-year budget blip can't restore the parks' lost luster. That will take a sustained, cumulative commitment.
As with Mission 66 a half-century ago, Kempthorne has made it clear that the upcoming 100th anniversary provides a "great opportunity to think big, to act boldly on behalf of national parks, to develop a 10-year plan to prepare national parks for the future."
One 21st century idea worth spreading is the free shuttle system pioneered in 2000 by Zion National Park in Utah. Traffic, noise and exhaust diminish the parks. It's time to get people out of their cars and into shuttles. Grand Teton and Grand Canyon are moving in this direction. The next step is to take the shuttle systemwide.
The creation of national parks is a unique American contribution to the world, but the nation has become complacent. To prepare for the 100th anniversary, we need to stop taking our national parks for granted and take steps to restore their luster for a second century.
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/131846.html