U.S. National Parks Short-Staffed and Short-Changed

WASHINGTON, DC, March 17, 2004 (ENS) - The national park system faces a staffing shortage caused by chronic underfunding, according to a report from the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization says the staff shortage is undermining the ability of the National Park Service to protect America's national parks and monuments and is short-changing park visitors.

"America's national park rangers have become an endangered species," said NPCA President Thomas Kiernan.

The number of commissioned permanent rangers has dropped some 16 percent since 1980 to 1,539 and the number of seasonal rangers has fallen to 147 individuals - a decline of 74 percent.

During this time period, the number of units in the national park system has grown by 54 units to 387 and annual visitors to the parks have increased by 60 million.

Permanent park staff are hired and paid from the Park Service's operating budget, which when adjusted for inflation has dropped some 20 percent in the past 25 years.

Conservationists say staff shortages are undermining the mission driven nature of the Park Service. (Photo courtesy National Park Service)

The Bush administration's $2.4 billion Park Service budget request for fiscal year 2005 sets aside $1.7 billion for the annual operations of the Park Service, an increase of $76.5 million.

In the first three Bush budget years, the total Park Service budget increased on average by one percent, according to NPCA, whereas at end of 1990s it was increasing at an annual rate of nine percent.

"By neglecting their duty to adequately fund our national parks, Congress and the administration are squandering the nation's legacy," Kiernan said.

The cuts in funds and staff are negatively impacting visitor experiences at the parks, NPCA says, and public education programs, scientific monitoring studies and general maintenance and upkeep of the parks are all suffering.

For example, the number of interpretative rangers - full time staffers on hand to tell visitors about the history of the parks - has fallen by 172 in the past five years.

There is now one interpretative ranger for every 100,000 park visitors and educational program funding at the parks faces a 50 percent shortfall, according to the report.

In fiscal year 2004, the parks received a 1.5 percent increase to cover a 4.1 percent pay raise for park staff - forcing the Park Service to siphon these funds from other programs.

NPCA says budget concerns and staff shortages have forced visitor centers in parks nationwide to reduce operating hours or close altogether for months at a time.

The Statue of Liberty is one of nine sites the Park Service must provide extra security for because of new requirements from the Department of Homeland Security. (Photo courtesy NPS)

Each day the nation is under the Homeland's Code Orange alert, the agency must spend $63,500 on additional security costs - funds that must be siphoned off from elsewhere in the agency's budget. In fiscal year 2003, the agency estimates it spent $8 million for increased security for Code Orange alerts.

NPCA says a $50 million fund should be set aside for new security measures required of the Park Service.

It appears as if the Interior Department is muzzling employees who try to draw public attention to the staff shortage at the nation's parks.

Days after speaking to a "Washington Post" reporter revealing low staffing levels at parks in the nation's capital, National Park Service Police Chief Teresa Chambers, a 25 year veteran of the force, received a notice proposing her termination. On December 9, 2003, Deputy Park Service Director Donald Murphy asked Chambers to surrender her gun and badge, placed her on administrative leave and ordered her not to speak any further with the media.

National Park Service Police Chief Teresa Chambers (Photo courtesy PEER)

The situation has caused another park police officer to resign this month. Officer Bleu Lawless, one of the few officers who is also an attorney, notified his chain-of-command of his decision to leave. The organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which is supporting Chief Chambers, posted Lawless' letter of resignation on its website.

"I would like to emphasize that my experience with the U.S. Park Police has been nothing but positive," Lawless wrote. But, Lawless said, his desire to work with the Park Police has been shaken. "The recent unfair treatment of Chief Chambers creates enough doubt in my mind about my future as a U.S. Park Police Officer to justify a career change."

Administration officials say President George W. Bush is a good steward of the parks and is focused on addressing the estimated $5 billion maintenance backlog that plagues the national park system.

They contend the President on track to meet his campaign commitment to spend $4.9 billion over five years to address the National Park Service's maintenance backlog, but officials have backed away from saying this will indeed eliminate the backlog.

"We have really made a great deal of success in addressing the backlog, but the backlog is not really a number," National Park Service Director Fran Mainella told a Congressional panel last month. "It is a snapshot in time and it needs to be looked at as an evolving condition of the parks."

National Park Service Director Fran Mainella (right) visits Moccasin Bend, Tennessee, May 2003. (Photo courtesy Representative Zach Wamp)

But critics say the administration has manipulated budget figures and has been less than truthful about the real status of maintenance needs throughout the national park system.

Conservationists say the Bush budgets total some $660 million in new funding to address the maintenance backlog - far short of the administration's pledge.

The Bush administration is also keen to promote volunteerism at the parks and volunteers have increased some 5 percent a year since the 1990.

In 2002, some 125,000 volunteers donated time equivalent to 2,156 full time employees, according to NPCA.

The increase in volunteers is good, NPCA says in its report, but the Park Service has limited capacity to manage volunteers and concentrating on them to fill the gap is part of a "band-aid approach," according to the report.

"President Bush - and some of his predecessors - made strong commitments to the American people about protecting our national parks," Kiernan said. "But when push comes to shove, the parks are under funded year after year by Washington."