National Parks’ Birthday: Time to Renew a National Commitment
This week, as we celebrate the National Park Service’s 96th birthday we can reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing our national parks as they near their second century. From the
National Parks’ Birthday: Time to Renew a National Commitment
This week, as we celebrate the National Park Service’s 96th birthday we can reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing our national parks as they near their second century. From the shores of Acadia to the battlefields at Gettysburg, the petroglyphs at Mesa Verde and the bison that roam Yellowstone, our 397 national parks protect and preserve America’s heritage.
The National Park System contains some of our most historically significant sites as well as some of the last wild lands of America. They provide some of the very best wildlife viewing experiences in the country. Visitors can see grizzlies, bison, and mountain goats in the wild; and can experience the historic migration of caribou or pronghorn and see lynx, wolves, and other animals in their native habitat. Yet our national parks are vulnerable from the number one threat facing our parks today–inadequate funding. The Park Service currently suffers from an annual operating shortfall of more than $500 million, and additional looming cuts will jeopardize this world-class resource.
After two years of declining funding, national parks now face the prospect of devastating cuts through the annual appropriations process and the looming threat of the “sequester” scheduled for January 2013. If Congress doesn’t agree on a budget, the Park Service could face cuts of up to 10 percent. As reported in the Washington Post, that would likely mean closed visitor centers, closed campgrounds, closed park sites, and thousands of rangers and other park employees out of a job.
In a time when our economy and local communities are facing some of their greatest challenges, national parks offer some of our most promising sources of hope. National parks are a top tourist draw but are a very small part of the federal budget–less than 1/14th of 1 percent. Yet they support $31 billion in priva