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Parks hit hard by budgetwoes

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 20, 2006

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. - Once portals that lured gold-seeking pioneers, the holes that dot the sun-baked mountainsides of this California desert haunt J.T. Reynolds.

The Death Valley National Park superintendent fears tourists will tumble down the shafts or vanish into the rocky tunnels that abound in his park's Gold Rush-era mines and ghost towns.

To make some 6,000 shafts and caves completely safe would take money that is lacking.

"Most visitors do not realize that park resources have been under threat from deterioration, vandalism, neglect and rot for some time," he said. "We put up a good front and try to keep high visitor-use areas clean and neat."

Across the 390 parks, preserves and historic sites that make up the 90-year-old national park system, Reynolds' colleagues face similar tough choices as rising costs from labor, maintenance, operations and preservation exceed wartime budgets from Washington.

 - Alaska's Denali National Park has cut campfire talks and ranger interpretation programs by 50 percent over five years.

 - Four out of 10 historic buildings at Gettysburg's battlefields in Pennsylvania and the neighboring Eisenhower National Historic Site are in poor or serious condition.

 - When winter rain visits Death Valley, the bucket comes out at the visitor center. Before the leaky ceiling got a temporary patch job, a chunk landed on a woman paying her entrance fee.

Some parks have received $4.7-billion in long-awaited money from the Bush administration for decaying roads and structures that were on maintenance backlog lists for years. But managers at many parks say they are losing ground in maintaining and protecting their current resources while facing increased costs for security, workers, energy and 270-million annual visitors.

As a candidate in 2000, Bush promised to eliminate a $5-billion construction backlog in national parks. The latest estimate - from Library of Congress researchers in March 2005 - put the backlog at between $4.5-billion and $9.7-billion.

The White House says Bush is fulfilling his commitment to the park maintenance backlog.

The Interior Department says parks have fared better than many federal agencies during a time of war and budget constraints. Many parks have raised fees or are considering increases at their entry gates, campsites and boat ramps.

New policy aims for preservation

WASHINGTON - Snowmobilers and all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts will have a tougher time getting permission to ride in national parks under a new government plan announced Monday.

The plan stresses that conserving natural and historic places will be the parks' predominant job. A draft of the new policy announced by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne reverses a controversial proposal that would have shifted the parks' priorities toward recreation and put less emphasis on preservation.

[Last modified June 19, 2006, 22:51:54]