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In your travels through the National Park System this summer, have you noticed any impacts from the budget sequestration? If so, how did they impact your visit?
Earlier this year there were dire warnings regarding how the National Park Service would absorb the cuts. But how visible have they been, and have they affected your visit to the parks?
Going forward, do you have any concerns if the cuts are left intact in the next fiscal year's budget?
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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.
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Comments
The partisan bickering on this site is a real turn-off.
It's 5 percent. Get over it.
According to the FY14 NPS Greenbook, Mount Rainier had a total of 179 FTEs in FY12(ONPS-132). Of those 179 FTEs, 118 were funded by the park's base operating dollars. Mount Rainier's operating budget was $12.2M for FY 2012. The FY12 NPS Greenbook lists Mount Rainier as having 204 FTEs in FY 2010, 118 funded by base ops(ONPS-193).
According to a May 2013 on the Bonny Lake Courier-Herald website, Rainier had a budget of $12.08M for 2012. Of that $12.08M, 5% was for program support(HR & Inventory and Monitoring) that Rainier provided for other parks in the region. So that for FY 2012, Rainier had ~$11.4M for its own operations. The article also states that 78-80% of the base funding is used for personnel and there are 110 permanent positions(12 currently vacant).
Given all this, it seems likely to me that those 40 hires are being funded by something other than the ops budget. I would think that positions funded by other funds would not necessarily be long-term permanent hires despite the impression that the New Tribune article gives.
http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/budget.htm
http://www.blscourierherald.com/news/207134281.html
My wife and I camped at Cataloochee in GRSM this June. I had planned on doing some hikes via the Caldwell Fork Trail, but three of the log bridges had been knocked out by storms. A sign at the trailhead said they would "not be replaced until further notice." I don't know if this was a direct effect of sequestration or budget cuts in general, but it was pretty disappointing.