Fed funds: More for parks, less for CUP

White House releases budget overview for Interior Department

WASHINGTON — Utah's national parks and monuments should see a significant infusion of new money to upgrade facilities. But the government is turning down the spigot of federal money going to the Central Utah Project.

Those were among the items highlighted in President Bush's 2006 budget overview for the Department of Interior released Monday in Washington, D.C.

"This budget focuses on funding essential activities and programs that fulfill Interior's core responsibilities, such as reforming Indian trust systems, protecting communities against wildland fire and conserving our national parks, refuges, waters and wildlife," Secretary of Interior Gale Norton said.

The Department of Interior budget is of significant interest to Utah because the federal government owns most of the state. The vast majority of federal land is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service, both entities within Interior.

Overall, the president's budget for Interior calls for the department's budget to be trimmed by $100 million, from $10.9 billion to $10.8 billion.

Some of the cuts were accomplished through eliminating certain federal programs that had outlived their usefulness, Norton said. Other money was trimmed from existing programs, like the Central Utah Project.

If the president's budget were to be adopted — and Congress still has the ultimate word on that — the CUP would get $34.4 million, which is down $13.3 million from the current 2005 budget enacted by Congress.

According to a budget document released by Interior, the decrease is due primarily to the transfer of budget authority from Interior to the Western Area Power Administration.

Bush's budget includes money to complete the Diamond Fork water delivery system, to continue construction on Big Sand Wash dam and to implement local projects. It also includes $397,000 for mitigation and conservation projects associated with CUP.

The National Park Service was a winner once again, seeing its proposed budget for maintenance and construction increase by $27.1 million to a total of $716.6 million. Some $3.7 billion has been spent since 2002 to improve the nation's parks.

Utah has five national parks, seven national monuments, two national recreation areas and a national historic site, almost all administered by the National Park Service.

The president's budget is broad, and specific details of where money would be spent were not immediately available.

The budget is certain to ruffle the feathers of conservationists because Norton called for making public lands more accessible for oil and gas development. In Utah, the future of those lands is hotly debated with environmentalists calling for wilderness protection and oil and gas companies seeking exploration leases.

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