National Parks Traveler

Without question, the biggest story of the year for the National Park Service and National Park System in 2017 was the arrival of the Trump administration and its public lands and workforce policies.

While there were many newsworthy events across the park system in 2017, none has had greater impact than President Trump and his Interior secretary, Ryan Zinke. Consider the following:  

• President Trump has moved to cut the size of Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments in half and break them into smaller pieces. If that action holds up in court, what might future presidents do to other monuments?
• President Trump spurred the “alt” movement by criticizing climate change tweets from Badlands National Park, questioning Park Service estimates that the size of his inaugural crowd paled to those that turned out for President Obama’s two inaugurations, and by his perceived biases towards women and minorities.
• Secretary Zinke maligned his far-flung workforce by claiming that at least one-third are working against him, and the Park Service specifically by saying the agency is good at cleaning restrooms, but not managing campgrounds.
• Rather than calling on Congress to improve funding for the Park Service, the Interior secretary proposed a “surge pricing” scheme for 17 national parks that will have little if any effect on raising funds to slice away at the Park Service’s $11.3 billion maintenance backlog.
• President Trump has proposed, and Secretary Zinke endorsed, a budget for the National Park Service that would cut nearly $400 million annually and some 1,200 employees.
• Secretary Zinke has told the Park Service to reconsider the use of greasy baits for bear hunting in Alaska preserves and directed that the agency pull out of efforts to craft a grizzly bear recovery plan for the North Cascades Ecosystem.
• The Trump administration, with Secretary Zinke leading the way, reversed the Obama administration's opposition to a more than 7-mile-long line of transmission towers running near Historic Jamestowne and Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia.
• Nearly a year into his administration, President Trump still has not nominated a director for the National Park Service.

Interior Secretary Zinke saw concrete progress, not degradation, in how the administration is managing its public lands.

“Across the department we are striking the right balance to protect our greatest treasures and also generate the revenue and energy our country needs," the secretary said in a year-end message. "We ended the war on coal, and we restored millions of acres of public land for traditional multiple use. We expanded access for recreation, hunting and fishing on public lands, and also started looking at new ways to rebuild our national parks. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Next year will be an exciting year for the department and the American people."

Among Mr. Zinke's successes, his staff pointed to "the President restor(ing) traditional multiple-use public access to over a million acres of land in Utah while creating five distinct monument units at Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments. Under Zinke's leadership, the department also opened up the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge for emergency cattle grazing after a wildfire, and reopened U.S. (sic) Virgin Islands National Park ahead of the busy Christmas tourism season, helping the (Caribbean) islands' economic recovery."

But not everyone shared the secretary's view or that of his staff.

"Over the years, parks and public lands have been threatened by leadership, beginning with the White House that quite clearly does not support conservation," said Phil Francis, vice chair of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks. "In those administrations, department heads, including Interior, Agriculture, EPA, and others, it appears they are chosen because they don't believe in the missions of the agencies they are picked to lead. Each time the outcomes are both tangible and intangible. 

"Staff in these departments withdraw from the political leadership that has withdrawn from them, resulting in all manner of subtle actions that are taken to defend our nation's resources from the threats posed from political leadership in Washington," he continued. "Morale suffers, and the best defenses cannot withstand the worst of decisions from department leaders."

While Secretary Zinke has pledged to bolster morale across Interior and within the National Park Service, his support of the president’s budget proposal, his position that The Antiquities Act has been misused by past presidents to designate national monuments, and his heavy-handed demand that the superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park fly to Washington, D.C., so he could be dressed down for climate change statements made on the park’s Twitter feed, go in the opposite direction.

With the expectation that President Trump early in 2018 will announce additional proclamations aimed at changing boundaries and uses of national monuments, this story will not end today.

"Thinking ahead," Mr. Francis wrote in an email, "I am concerned that the assault will continue on a number of fronts mentioned above and undoubtedly some new ones. I am reminded of the early 1980s and the early years of this century when a similar anti-environment attitude prevailed at the top of the Interior Department, and similar initiatives were launched. Then, there were attempts to contract out governments services, to significantly reduce NPS budgets, to change BASIC policies and environmental regulations, and to eliminate the Land and Water Conservation Fund. 

"I don't think I would be able to judge whether or not this year was the worst in decades. I do think, however, that it is safe to say that it's been a dismal and depressing year for those of us who believe in the NPS mission of protecting and conserving the resources while providing for the enjoyment of the same by park visitors," said Mr. Francis.

At the National Parks Conservation Association, Kristen Brengel, vice president of government affairs, said the worst thing the administration did in 2017 was move to break up Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments.

"The monuments has been the biggest story to the national parks, because The Antiquities Act is probably the second-most important law governing the National Park System," she said. "It's the law that allows the president to actively protect places and conserve them for future generations. But, the 30 actions that the administration has pursued, whether it's energy development or tearing apart our clean water regulations, or preventing future conservation, are a failure for the national parks.

"This administration has a ways to go if they want to be known for protecting national parks. They're not doing a very good job right now," said Ms. Brengel.

Since President Trump was inaugurated a year ago, NPCA staff has been tracking actions his administration has taken that they deem detrimental to public lands in general and the National Park System specifically and has come up with the following list:

Presidential Actions

January 23: Presidential Memorandum instituted a freeze on hiring of Federal civilian employees. No vacant positions could be filled and no new positions created.

January 30: Executive Order 13771 requires a repeal of two regulations for every one enacted. Agencies must also offset cost of new rules by rescinding existing rules.

February 24: Executive Order 13777 initiates enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda. On June 21, the Department of the Interior (DOI) opened an ongoing comment period on unnecessary regulatory burdens.

February 28: Executive Order 13778 starts the review and rescission or revision of the “Waters of the United States” rule.. The comment period on the proposed rule to replace the 2015 definition of Waters of the United States and re-codify regulatory text that existed prior to 2015, closed on September 27.

March 13: Executive Order 13781 directs the Office on Management and Budget (OMB) to propose a plan to reorganize governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies.

March 28: Executive Order 13783 starts a process to review and repeal the Clean Power Plan; starts process to review Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methane rule, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) fracking rule, BLM methane rule, National Park Service (NPS) 9B rule; rescinds Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) final guidance on consideration of greenhouse gas emissions and effects of climate change in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.

April 26: Executive Order 13792 starts a review of national monuments designated by the Antiquities Act since 1996 that are more than 100,000 acres or that received insufficient public input according to the Secretary of the Interior. The public comment period on the review of national monuments closed on July 10.

April 28: Executive Order 13795 starts the process to review and revise 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Final Program; rescinds ban on drilling inside Marine Sanctuaries created after July 14, 2008; orders DOI and Commerce to expedite ITAs and IHAs under Marine Mammal Protection Act; requires Commerce to streamline permitting for seismic testing; starts process to review BSEE Well Control and Blowout Preventer Systems rule.

Department or Agency Actions

March 29: DOI Secretarial Order 3348 overturns the 2016 moratorium on all new coal leases on federal land and ends the programmatic environmental impacts statement that was set to be completed no sooner than 2019.

March 29: DOI Secretarial Order 3349 implements a review of agency actions that may hamper responsible energy development and reconsideration of regulations related to U.S. oil and natural gas development. It directs a reexamination of the mitigation and climate change policies and guidance across Interior.

April 5: DOI reversed course and took steps that could lead to approval of the controversial Cadiz Inc. groundwater mining proposal which would pump 16 billion gallons of water per year from the Mojave Desert.

April 12: OMB Memorandum M-17-22 on a comprehensive plan for reforming the federal government and reducing the federal civilian workforce as directed by Executive Order 13781.

April 21: BLM approves right-of-way for Eagle Crest pumped storage facility near Joshua Tree National Park.

May 12: EPA reverses decision on gold and copper mine in Bristol Bay region and allows for permitting and approval process to go forward. The comment period on reassessing proposed withdrawal closed October 17.

May 23: The Fiscal Year 2018 President’s Budget recommends a 13 percent cut to the National Park Service.

June 2: Secretary of the Interior announces he will recommend reducing the size of the Bears Ears National Monument.

June 22: Fish and Wildlife Service releases rule to delist Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear from the Endangered Species List.

July 6: Army Corps of Engineers grants a permit for Dominion Virginia Power to build 17 obstructive transmission towers across the James River.

July 7: OMB Memorandum M-17-28 provides Fiscal Year 2019 budget guidance to agencies to implement the FY18 budget and Executive Order 13781.

July 19: DOI directs NPS to reconsider Alaska wildlife hunting regulations.

July 25: BLM proposes rescinding 2015 hydraulic fracturing on public lands rule. The comment period on proposed rescission closed September 25.

August 17: NPS rescinds ban on selling bottled water in national parks.

August 31: DOI Secretarial Order 3355 “streamlines” NEPA by setting page and timing limitations for Environmental Impact Statemets, target page and timing limitations for Environmental Assessments, and directing additional NEPA-streamlining review.

August 31: NPS rescinds Directors Order #100.

September 15: DOI Secretarial Order 3356 requires agencies to produce plan to expand access for hunting and fishing, and, among other provisions, amends national monument management plans to ensure public’s right to hunt, fish and target shoot.

September 17: A leaked report shows Secretary Zinke recommended removing protections for nearly a dozen national monuments.

October 1: EPA misses the deadline for releasing non-attainment areas in order to comply with 2015 ozone standard.

October 4: BLM announces a comment period on a one-year delay of Methane Waste Prevention Rule.

October 10: EPA issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to repeal Clean Power Plan.

October 24: DOI announces a comment period on proposed fee increases in 17 national parks.

Nov 1: DOI recommends rolling back a 20-year-ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

Other significant stories that touched the park system and Park Service in 2017 included:

National Park Foundation Raised Record Millions For The Parks

Though the National Park Service Centennial celebration ended a year ago, giving to the parks through the National Park Foundation did not. Indeed, a campaign that started out with a $250 million goal has blown past that target and now is aspiring to raise $500 million by the end of 2018.

"Today we stand at about $463 million, and a number of really good things are in the pipeline," Will Shafroth, president and CEO of the Foundation, said shortly before Christmas. "So we have until the end of 2018 to finish off our $500 million goal. And we will certainly do that, a lot sooner than the end of the year."

The $500 million goal is particularly impressive when you realize that the Foundation, which just turned 50, has raised about $1 billion over those five decades. 

"The good news is that the team we have in place now has raised $463 million of that in the last four years," pointed out Mr. Shafroth.

Of particular note of that $463 million in donations is that 65 percent came from individuals, 13 percent from foundations, and 21 percent from corporations.

"I think during the centennial, the pace was so intense, we had so many events and fundraisers, the work was just relentless," said Mr. Shafroth. "We did Antelope Flats and Drakes Estero and all the new monuments the president was designating that we were being asked to be responsible for, raising money around. There was just so much going on. I'm not sure I really stopped and thought what we were going to do (in terms of an end goal).

"We had some extraordinary and one-time things that happened in 2016. Did I think we were going to maintain north of $200 million a year? No way," he continued. "But we just finished our last fiscal year, and it will be somewhere around $95 million, compared to roughly $20 million in 2013."

A good chunk of the money raised in recent years came from David Rubenstein, a Washington, D.C., philanthropist who has literally given tens of millions of dollars for projects in and around the National Mall and Memorial Parks. For instance he gave:

* $5.4 million to pay for rehabilitation of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, commonly referred to as the Iwo Jima Memorial;

* $18.5 million for work on the Lincoln Memorial and expansion of visitor services there;

* $2 -$3 million needed for the National Park Service to modernize the Washington Monument elevator;

*  $7.5 million in matching funds to repair earthquake damage to one of America's most iconic structures, the Washington Monument, and;

*  $12.35 million to restore Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial.

Leveraging the giving in 2017 was the success of the 2016 centennial campaign, said Mr. Shafroth. "Our partners want to do more. It was good for their personnel philanthropy, for their foundations, for corporate sponsorships, it worked all the way around," he said.

As large as the campaign has grown, Mr. Shafroth believes it can grow even more substantially.

"It just feels to me that we have barely scratched the surface on the amount of money that could be raised for our national parks," he said. "I think we're just beginning to hit our stride in that way, whether it be for annual gifts, planned gifts, gifts through foundations, etc."

While the reforms to the tax code made by the Congress stand to eliminate charitable deductions for most Americans, Mr. Shafroth didn't think that would impact giving to the National Park Foundation.

"Will that mean they're not going to give at all or give less? I just don't know. I feel like people's love for the national parks will overpower whether or not they want to save some percent around that," he said. "There's too many factors. I think we're all going to have to figure it out."

While the Foundation, and the national parks directly, saw some impressive gifts in 2017, the organization also was able to tap its revenues for direct benefits in the park system, such as helping the Grand Teton National Park Foundation purchase the Antelope Flats inholding for the Park Service, and to help clean up an estimated 500 tons of debris from Drakes Estero in Point Reyes National Seashore. 

Other projects funded through the Foundation included: 

• Restoring trails like Middle Emerald Pools at Zion National Park and repairing crucial infrastructure like the elevator at the Washington Monument;
• Expanding recreational opportunities at places like Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area;
• Collaborating with other national nonprofits, including World Wildlife Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, and The Nature Conservancy to protect bison at Badlands National Park with Badlands Natural History Association;
• Joining forces with local philanthropic organizations to address priority park projects, like restoration projects at Antietam National Battlefield with the Civil War Trust and the Save Historic Antietam Foundation, and constructing the Tower of Voices at Flight 93 National Memorial with the Families and Friends of Flight 93.

PR Campaign Launched To See The National Park Service's Estimated $11.3 Billion Maintenance Backlog Wiped Out

Disappointed with Congress's inability to aggressively address the National Park Service's backlog of failed sewer and water systems, poor roads, and weary or damaged facilities, a coalition arose under the auspices of The Pew Charitable Trusts to bring attention to these needs.

By raising issues of maintenance items in parks to their surrounding stakeholders, amassing fact sheets that clearly point out the maintenance needs in specific parks, and by projecting a unified voice through Pew's Restore America's Parks initiative, grassroots support was being mobilized to bring pressure on Congress.

"From our perspective there's been a lot of progress," said Marcia Argust, who directs the initiative. "Keep in mind, that this is the first year, one year down, in a two-year Congress. The way we measure progress is, one, there's been a lot of public awareness that's been raised on this issue. You look at the constituencies that have weighed on and specifically weighed in with Congress, saying, 'Hey, you need to address this issue.' That's a very broad constituency that's been raising their voice on this. Everything from veterans to local businesses and local officials, and communities, and the travel and tourism industry, and the outdoor industry.

"You've got infrastructure groups who are weighing in now, and preservationists, and the list goes on," she said. 

In one instance the group garnered the signatures from more than 2,000 local businesses and officials across the country to lobby Congress on the issue. The organization also commissioned a study to show how much economic activity would be spawned if Congress would appropriate the money needed to wipe out the backlog.

"I don't think you've had in the past different constituencies and the public and specific interest groups really focused on deferred maintenance like they have in the past year or two," said Ms. Argust. "I think that's tremendous progress, and it's manifested itself in Congress responding. Several ways we've seen that is specific legislation. There are several initiatives out there right now. One is the National Park Service Legacy Act, which was introduced in the Senate. You also have a provision that it's in the energy bill, whether or not that moves, there's a provision in there that's been incorporated by Senators (Lisa) Murkowski and (Maria) Cantwell that addresses deferred maintenance.

"And then you also have Congressman (Mike) Simpson's bill, which specifically provides dedicated funding for deferred maintenance and (the Land and Water Conservation Fund)."

How much progress is seen in 2018 in terms of implementing on-the-ground projects remains to be seen.

"Having people paying attention in a serious way, putting this on the front burner, that's tremendous, that's real progress," Ms. Argust said.

While the tax reform legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president adds an estimated $1.5 trillion to the national debt, Ms. Argust could not say how that might affect efforts to seriously address the Park Service's backlog. But she was optimistic that efforts to fund infrastructure repairs across the nation would encompass the National Park System's needs.

"There's significant interest in an infrastructure package," she said, "which would seem to be the likely vehicle for taking up deferred maintenance in national parks."

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke/DOI

Rep. Zinke Confirmed As Interior Secretary

Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana was confirmed as Interior secretary by the U.S.Senate, prompting a mixed reaction of caution, concern, and exhilaration.

Hiring Freeze Exemptions Help National Park Service In Short Term, But Long-Term Concerns Persist

Exemptions to President Trump's hiring freeze for federal employees will allow the National Park Service to address seasonal and short-term positions, but uncertainty remains over the size of the agency's permanent workforce and whether it will be sufficient to manage the more than 400 units of the National Park System, a National Parks Conservation Association official said Wednesday.

OIG: National Park Service Didn't Exploit Trump Inauguration Crowd Size

National Park Service personnel did not exploit the size of the crowd at President Donald Trump's inauguration, nor did agency staff discuss with the media a call from the president to acting Park Service Director Mike Reynolds that day, an Interior Department investigation has concluded. 

Trump Administration Orders Interior Department To Shut Down Twitter Accounts

A few national park twitter accounts, at least, went silent Friday afternoon after the newly installed Trump administration ordered the Interior Department to idle all its accounts.

National Park Service Back On Twitter After Apologizing

The National Park Service returned to Twitter on Saturday after apologizing for tweets on Friday that apparently irked the Trump administration.

Metate Arch, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument/BLM

President Trump Signs Order Directing Interior Department Review Of National Monuments

President Trump, sounding as if he's ready to transfer federal lands back to the states, on Wednesday signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to review national monuments designated by the last three presidents, going back to 1996 when President Clinton established the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah via his authority under the Antiquities Act.

Among Traveler's coverage: 

President Trump Issues Proclamation To Shrink National Monuments, Tees Off Legal Battle

A handful of hours after President Trump on Monday issued a proclamation to chop 1 million acres off the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah a lawsuit was filed to prevent that from happening. Other groups were expected to file a similar lawsuit over the president's move to reduce Bears Ears National Monument, also in Utah, by 1 million acres.

Dueling Legal Opinions Offered In Battle Over National Monuments

Two legal analyses have been added to the debate over whether President Trump can unilaterally rescind the designation of Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and, not surprisingly, they reach different conclusions.

Poll Says Westerners Want Public Lands Protected, But Will It Matter?

Polling in seven Western states shows a strong majority of voters value clean air and water and outdoor recreation above energy development on public lands. And while the results showed eight in 10 voters want to retain, not decommission, national monuments, Utah officials were working to ask the Trump administration to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument designation and shrink the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

A National Park In Name Only?

Imagine a national park where you can hunt and trap the wildlife, where livestock grazing is not just permitted but also "enhanced," and a presidentially appointed management council tells the National Park Service how to run the park.

Lawsuit Filed Over Administration's National Monument Review

Leaked memos and a senator's comments regarding Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's review of 27 national monuments lack the requisite transparency over the Trump administration's efforts to shrink some monuments, according to a legal organization that has filed a lawsuit seeking more details on the secretary's review process.

Interior Secretary Vigorously Defends Actions On National Monuments

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday vigorously defended the Trump administration's move to reduce by 2 million acres the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase national monuments in Utah, saying previous presidents greatly misused their authority under The Antiquities Act. The secretary, in response to a reporter's question, also called Patagonia officials liars for their claim that President Trump "stole your land."

Secretary Zinke's Positions On National Monuments Link Him More Closely To Pinchot Than Roosevelt

Though he casts himself in the image of Theodore Roosevelt, by his actions Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke seems closer to Gifford Pinchot, the country's first chief of the U.S. Forest Service who viewed natural resources as existing to be consumed by people.