He said no visitor services were added. "We're trying to keep up," he said. He added that the park received some special project money to improve some trails, "but we didn't have that last year, and we won't have it next year."

Bryce Canyon

• Base budget: $7,000 decrease

• Budget with project funding: $366,000 increase

Bryce Canyon National Park's base budget decreased by $7,000 this year. However, the Interior Department says if year-to-year project money is considered, its budget actually increased by $366,000.

However, Superintendent Craig Axtell said the park was not able to add or enhance any government-funded visitor programs. It cut some seasonal janitorial positions and now has permanent skilled craftsmen — such as electricians and plumbers — also performing janitorial work.

Axtell said the park two years ago made several cuts to fund its visitor shuttle system (which began five years ago) out of the park's base budget. He said that included leaving a business manager position vacant for two years and abolishing positions for a clerk and a management assistant. He said other reorganization "made us more efficient, and we combined some jobs and eliminated some."

This year, project money outside of the park's base budget was found to operate the visitor shuttles, but Axtell said the park did not go back and refill the positions earlier eliminated or left vacant.

"What it enabled us to do is keep our heads above water this year. We didn't cut visitor center hours; we didn't cut law enforcement seasonals . . . ; we did cut custodians," he said.

But the park was able to fund an expanded "night sky" astronomy program, thanks to help from local lodges and visitors. Local lodges and hotels started a program where $1 from each night's lodging is donated to the park — unless a guest specifically asks to have his bill lowered by that $1 instead.

"I'm told that only about five people requested to have their bills lowered instead of allowing the donation," Axtell said. "We collected over $20,000 this summer. To me, it's totally amazing. . . . We wouldn't have been able to do it (the astronomy program) without it."

Of note, he said the park also completed a 10-mile, $10 million reconstruction of roads this year with project money, which he said should improve visitor experiences.

Zion

• Base budget: $6,000 decrease

• Budget with project funding: $346,000 increase