You are here

House Subcommittee Told There's No Need for Mangaement Policies Rewrite

Share

    When top National Park Service officials promote the proposed revisions to the agency's Management Policies, they stress the point that "100 career professionals" oversaw the revisions. Of course, what we have learned is that the Park Service can't seem to identify those 100 individuals.
    Well, today the chairman of the executive council of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees appeared before the House parks subcommittee to urge that it call on the Park Service to abandon the current efforts to rewrite the Management Policies. In doing so, Bill Wade told the committee that he represents 480 Park Service retirees who represent more than 14,000 years of Park Service experience.
    And you can bet Wade can identify them.

    Wade delivered eloquent testimony that was part history lesson and part admonishment.
    The history lesson revolved around the intent of the National Park Service Organic Act and the amendments attached to it over the years, as well as a primer on the history of the Management Policies. The admonishment was directed at the political appointees in the NPS and the Interior Department whom the coalition believes are trying to insert politics into the Park Service's decision-making process when it comes to managing our national park system.
    "Management of the national park system has been extraordinarily free of political whim -- until now," Wade told the committee. "All indications are that nearly 90 years of consistency in interpretation of the legislative mission of the National Park Service is at the brink of crumbling and the national park system is in jeopardy of suffering a 'hostile takeover' by recreational (primarily motorized) and commercial interests."
    Wade then delivered a point-by-point chronology that shows the evolution of Republican-led efforts to force the Park Service to place recreation in the parks at least on an equal, if not higher, plane with preservation of the parks.
    It's a wonderful synopsis worth reading, one that takes away any mystery of what the Bush administration wants to do with the park system.
    Wade also takes what he terms as "disingenuous and vacillating statements" made by NPS Director Fran Mainella to support the revisions and crumbles them.
    For instance, whereas Director Mainella and Paul Hoffman, the Interior Department's assistant deputy secretary for fish, wildlife and parks and who was a driving force in rewriting the Management Policies, have long claimed Congress asked for the revisions, Wade points out that there's no evidence of any such request.
    Rather than regurgitating Wade's comments here, I encourage you to follow the link above to his comments and read them. Not only are they illuminating, but they provide ample fodder for protesting the rewrite -- don't forget, the Park Service's public comment period ends this Saturday.
    "In the final analysis," Wade told the committee in wrapping up his comments, "the basic issue is trust. Frankly, we simply do not trust the current leadership of the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to do what is right relative to the mission of the NPS, nor to do what represents the best interests of the American People.
    "They have ignored science, research and scholarly analysis in parks. They have ignored the preferences of the American people. We have little confidence that they will pay much attention to the comments currently being received from the public on the draft policies unless they are the comments they want to hear."
    Also presenting testimony was Deny Galvin, whose long Park Service career included a stint as deputy director. Among the points he made in his testimony was one I've made time and again:
    "The national parks do not have to sustain all recreation; that is why we have various other federal, state, local and private recreation providers to share the demand, and to provide for those types of recreation that generally do not belong in the national parks, or that must be carefully limited," said Galvin, who appeared on behalf of the National Parks Conservation Association.
    "The 1916 NPS Organic Act, emphasizing conservation for future generations, is substantially different from the organic laws of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, or any other federal agency. The NPS mission is also different from that of state park agencies, or of county or city park agencies. Together, these agencies provide for many forms of public recreation, but not all forms of recreation are appropriate in national parks."
    Now we get to sit back and see whether the House subcommittee is interested in preserving the parks for future generations, or letting inappropriate uses run roughshod over them.

   
   

Comments

During the testimony yesterday, Mr. Bill Horn (formerly Asst Secy of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and now a paid attorney and lobbyist for snowmobile and other OHV interests) revealed information that surprised even Deputy NPS Director Steve Martin. Horn said that within two weeks after the current administration took office, the 2001 NPS Management Policies were targeted for review and revision. This adds further to our contention that unlike previous revisions of NPS management policy, this revision was nearly 100% politically driven. We knew the drive started as early as April 2002, but were unaware that it actually started well before that. Still time to comment on the proposed management revisions - until midnight tomorrow (Friday) night. We urge you to do so.

Here's a question for you Kurt: Why would Delaware North testify in favor of what most American's view as a disastrous weakening of the Park Service's Management Policies as they did this past Thursday? A park concessionaire in my mind shouldn't flex it's political muscle on issue so important to the American people. Their support is in bad taste and is tacky. They have the privilege to operate in parks, which are owned by the American people--and they of all interest should back continued clean air and natural quiet in parks, which is what makes national parks so unique among other agencies. When new contracts come up for the parks in which they operate, I hope decision-makers remember that this corporation worked to weaken the preservation mandate of the Park Service. Here's a link to why even the Nation Council of Churches opposes the proposed revisions: http://ga3.org/campaign/protectourparks/

Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.