Park budgets cut, survey says

WASHINGTON — National Park Service retirees say a survey they conducted shows the Bush administration has quietly cut park operation budgets and staff nationwide — despite campaign-year proclamations that it is giving parks more.

"Widespread and often deep cuts in budget, staff, maintenance and key services . . . will diminish the experience of park visitors," said Bill Wade, former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park and spokesman for the Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees, which conducted the new survey.

In response, National Park Service spokeswoman Elaine Sevy said administration budgets are giving parks more money — but parks also face increased costs because of floods, fires and terrorism threats, which has made operations budgets tight. To help, she said, the service has canceled all travel, which transferred $1.5 million to operations.

The coalition's new survey comes after earlier this year, another coalition spokesman — former Dinosaur National Monument Superintendent Denny Huffman — released administration memos urging park employees to mislead the public if necessary about service cuts forced by tight budgets to avoid "public or political controversy" this election year.

For the new survey, the coalition contacted what it said were 12 representative parks: Assateague (Md.); Death Valley (Calif.); Devil's Tower (Wyo.); Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania (Va.); Gettysburg (Pa.); Great Smoky Mountains (Tenn.); Lake Roosevelt, Mount Rainier and Olympic (Wash.); Rocky Mountain (Colo.); Salinas Pueblo Missions (N.M.); and western Pennsylvania parks.

Wade said the survey found budgets were down at eight of the 12 parks; employee levels were reduced at all of the parks; six of the 12 parks already have or will cut visitor center hours; and all six of the surveyed historic parks will allow key facilities to further deteriorate without needed maintenance.

He added that nine of the 12 parks have made some form of cuts that the coalition says will result in a lower quality experience for visitors, and some parks are cutting law enforcement positions.

Wade complained that is a different picture than Park Service Director Fran Mainella painted before Congress this year when she said the service would have "more funds per acre, per employee, and per person (visitor) than any time in our history."