With the year-end quickly approaching, there are efforts in Congress to help, and possibly hurt, the National Park Service.

Tinkering With The Endangered Species Act

Members of the Congressional Western Caucus have introduced legislation they say will make the Endangered Species Act "more flexible," though critics say it's a move to "bulldoze protections for our most imperiled animals and plants.."

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the ESA, and its disappointing track record highlights the urgent need for reform,” said Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, who chairs the caucus. “I’m proud to join Western Caucus Vice Chair Stauber in re-introducing this legislation to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service with additional flexibilities in implementing regulations to recover species while avoiding actions detrimental to landowners. Western Caucus members will continue to prioritize reforming the ESA to make sure the law works better for both species and rural America.”

That proposal, called the ESA Flexibility Act, would allow "the Secretary of the Interior to also utilize 4(d) rules for species listed as endangered. The ESA Flexibility Act will allow for better, fit-for-purpose management of endangered species across the country while still supporting responsible land use and management."

The 4(d) rules direct the Interior Secretary "to issue regulations deemed 'necessary and advisable to provide for the conservation of' threatened species. ... The ESA (section 9) provides a specific list of protections for endangered species, but the ESA does not automatically provide these same protections to threatened species. Without a 4(d) rule, threatened species do not receive section 9 protections."

At the Center for Biological Diversity, Stephanie Kurose, who is the organization's senior endangered species policy specialist, viewed the proposed legislation as a train wreck for the ESA.

“The Congressional Western Caucus continues pushing the most extreme, anti-wildlife, anti-regulatory agenda in Congress, and they’re responsible for nearly half of all legislative attacks on the Endangered Species Act,” said Kurose. “This disastrous bill is just another one of their insidious attempts to bulldoze protections for our most imperiled animals and plants, damn the consequences. It’s totally out of step with the American people, who are celebrating the Act’s 50th anniversary this year and want to see our natural heritage protected for another 50 years and beyond.”

While the legislation might pass the House, it's unlikely to gain traction in the Democratically controlled Senate.

Pushing For Park Overflights

Republican leadership of the House of Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is pushing to force the National Park Service to allow more commercial overflights in the National Park System.

During a recent hearing, Chairman Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, said that, "Air tours are an important option to many visitors hoping to enjoy a once in a lifetime experience at our national parks and famous landmarks. National parks should be available to all visitors, including the disabled and elderly who rely on aerial flights as the only way to enjoy our national parks. Greatly reducing opportunities to experience these treasures makes no sense.” 

Committee staffers, in preparing for the hearing, wrote that "[T]he National Park Service (NPS) has abused the National Parks Air Tour Management Program (ATMP) to essentially eliminate air tour flights over certain National Park units without sufficiently consulting industry and the National Parks Overflights Advisory Group."

Drawing the ire of Gosar and other Republicans on the committee seems to be NPS work on an air management tour plan for Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona and bans of the tours over Badlands National Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.

It's been more than two decades since the National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration were ordered by Congress to craft air tour plans, and the process has been slow, criticized, and targeted by lawsuits. As parks across the National Park System released their draft plans, they revealed that there seemed to be no central goal for parks to follow. While Glacier National Park's plan calls for all commercial air tours to be phased out by the end of 2029 because "[T]he preservation of natural sounds, protection of natural and cultural resources, wilderness character, and preserving visitor experience by addressing noise issues are priority NPS management objectives for the Park," at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah officials never considered a ban as they worked on a draft air tour management plan. 

This past spring both Badlands and Mount Rushmore officials announced plans to ban the flights.

"The draft plan is based on extensive environmental analysis and consultation with tribes and other parties. Tribal consultation indicated that air tours directly over the park are not consistent with tribal values and traditional uses of the land by tribes," said Badlands Superintendent Eric Veach back in May when the plan was released for review. "The plan’s purpose is to ensure that park resource values, including natural sounds, wilderness character, visitor experiences, wildlife, and other natural and cultural resources, are protected for current and future generations.”

The subcommittee's staff views the bans and reduced flight paths as denying access to the parks.

"Air tour operators assist millions of Americans, who might not otherwise be able to access the National Park System. Air tours provide an alternative option for the elderly and individuals with physical limitations to experience the beauty of our National Park System," they wrote. "Many Americans do not have the capacity to walk or hike long distances for a multitude of reasons, and air tours provide an opportunity for those individuals to 'interact with the parks in ways they could not otherwise.'”

Pro-Parks Legislation

This past week the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee sent to the Senate floor a number of measures that would enhance the National Park System and protect some areas outside the system.

• S. 594 calls for completion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail.
• S. 636 would establish the Dolores River National Conservation Area and the Dolores River Special Management Area in the State of Colorado.
• S. 1254 would designate and expand the wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in Washington state and designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers.
• S. 1634 would designate some wilderness areas in Colorado, establish wildlife conservation areas, and transfer 2,500 of U.S. Forest Service lands to Curecanti National Recreation Area, a Park Service unit.
• S. 1776 would establish wilderness areas in California, help with restoration work at Redwood National and State Parks, establish national recreation trails in the state, and designate wild and scenic rivers.
• S. 3045 calls for a land swap between the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service that would add 160 acres to Yosemite National Park.