Green Blood Still Runs Deep

REALITY CHECK:

WHAT VISITORS TO

AMERICA’S NATIONAL PARKS

WILL EXPERIENCE DURING

SUMMER 2006

A Survey and Analysis by the

Coalition of National Park Service Retirees

June 15, 2006

I.

Overview

Despite “happy talk” assurances from political appointees at the Department of the Interior and National Park Service (NPS), all is not well this summer in America’s national parks. A Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) analysis of the status of 37 national parks – including 17 surveyed in detail by the Coalition -- finds widespread evidence of major problems that will be evident this summer – including decreased safety for visitors, longer emergency response times, endangerment of protected resources, and dirtier and less well-maintained parks – and only grow worse in the coming years.

The 17 parks surveyed by the Coalition were as follows (alphabetically): Acadia National Park; Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; Biscayne National Park; Blue Ridge Parkway; Denali National Park; Fort Smith National Historic Site; Gettysburg National Military Park; Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; Independence National Historical Park; Lassen Volcanic National Park; Central High School National Historic Site; Olympic National Park; Ozark National Scenic Riverways; Rocky Mountain National Park; Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River; and Redwoods National Park.

In addition, CNPSR reviewed budget-related reports for the following 20 national parks (alphabetically): Antietam National Battlefield; Arkansas Post National Memorial; Bryce Canyon National Park; Big Bend National Park; Canyonlands National Park; Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site; Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site; Fort Sumter National Monument; Glacier National Park; Grand Canyon National Park; Grand Teton National Park; Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; Hot Springs National Park; Lake Mead National Recreation Area; Shenandoah National Park; Statue of Liberty National Monument; Valley Forge National Historical Park; Yellowstone National Park; Yosemite National Park; and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

II.

BACKGROUND/KEY FINDINGS

Congressional budget increases of recent years have been welcomed by all national parks, but have only succeeded in bringing some parks out of the depths of the financial abyss … and back to its brink. The recent budget adds-ons of 4-8 percent are the proverbial drop in the bucket in the face of at least $600 million in operations funding deficits and an enormous maintenance backlog of up to $7 billion.

Further complicating things is the recently imposed “85/15” mandate for national parks -- with 85 percent of base operational funds reserved for “fixed” costs such as utilities, transportation and personnel. The 15 percent remainder is for discretionary funding for such things as supplies, other materials, and training. In most parks, hitting the ratio has required lapsing or eliminating needed positions. Some parks with up to 96-98 percent of their budgets in fixed costs are simply unable to meet the ratio. The results: Parks had a budget and personnel deficit before the ratio emerged … and now are even worse off under the arbitrary ratio, which appears designed to force parks to make even deeper cuts in personnel (including law enforcement personnel) and services to the public.

Key findings of the CNPSR survey include the following:

A. Visitors and resources at national parks will be put at greater risk this summer than in the past due to extensive full-time emergency and law enforcement staff cuts. For example:

· Acadia NP: 1.5 FTE reduction in seasonal law enforcement personnel – one entire position cut, seven others shortened; fewer patrols along roads, backcountry and boundaries with decrease in response capability and increase in response times; direct impact on resource protection dealing with unregulated recreational use, visitor conflicts, commercial use issues, poaching activities, off road use; decreased lifeguard seasons results in loss of rescue capability and unsafe visitor interventions; and division support costs reduced to less than 6 percent creating lack of capacity to carry out mission.

· Apostle Islands NL: no proactive law enforcement and resource protection operations; reliance on visitor reports rather than proactive action; law enforcement rangers no longer live on islands where visitation occurs; responses from the mainland only; no backup for law enforcement rangers; single-person boat patrols are dangerous and limit rescue capacity of ranger; safety radio dispatch only available for limited hours per day/five days per week; no bear management operations although it cost $16,500 in overtime call out costs to manage; no capacity to respond to concurrent incidents (which happen frequently); reduction of patrol hours; critical resources not being monitored; and back country being ignored due to front country pressures.

· Denali NP: conversion from a seasonal law enforcement program to use of less-than-full time career status rangers in order to accommodate new use patterns results in fewer overall positions; ambulance runs up 38 percent in one year due to new visitation patterns; no backup for front country patrol staff; little or no back country patrols to be performed. Consequences are lengthier response times, structural fire fighting capability curtailed; and ambulance driving assigned to administrative staff as collateral duty.

· Fort Smith NHS: cannot afford a law enforcement officer; and superintendent works front desk in the visitor center in the winter to save money for seasonal employees.

· Gettysburg NMP: due to loss of two law enforcement rangers, patrols are cut by 25 percent, putting visitors and historic resources at risk.

· Glen Canyon NRA: reduced lake boat patrols, backcountry vehicle/San Juan River patrols; delays in emergency response; and increased front country visitation is creating greater call frequency and delayed response.

· Indiana Dunes NL: cannot patrol remote areas; rangers are reactive only; monitoring of sensitive areas eliminated, with patrol rangers not mingling with public or educating visitors; elimination of criminal investigator sends complex cases to lower levels of professionalism compromising closure rates; and water safety program has been reduced to one beach and only three lifeguards.

· Olympic NP: delayed law enforcement responses to visitor assistance calls; and potential for more crimes due to lack of deterrence.

· Ozark NSR: no capability to conduct continued boater safety checks; reduced patrols on river and land; less protection presence on the river, which is at times a “no-man’s zone” in terms of law enforcement; and fewer patrols to counter drug use, alcohol abuse and deviant behavior common on recreational rivers.

B. Most surveyed parks will have fewer law enforcement rangers on the job this summer to protect park visitors and park resources. For example:

· Acadia NP: decrease to 20 in FY 06 from 21 in FY 04.

· Fort Smith NHS: no law enforcement commissioned ranger is now available.

· Gettysburg NMP: seven in FY 06; down from nine in FY 04.

· Glen Canyon NRA: 33 in FY 06; down from 35 in FY 04

· Indiana Dunes NL: decrease to 10 permanents in FY 06 from 12 permanents and two seasonals in FY 04.

· Olympic NP: a decrease to 18 permanent and 10 seasonals in FY 06 from 21 permanent and 17 seasonals in FY 04.

· Ozark NSR: a decrease to 16 in FY 06 from 19 in FY 04.

· Upper Delaware SRR: five lapsed law enforcement positions since FY 02.

At least one park could not hire a law enforcement ranger because they had to use that “lapsed money” to hire a seasonal visitor center employee to keep the visitor center open.

C. Visitors to parks this summer will see evidence of deteriorating park operations resulting from reduced preventative maintenance, in terms of scheduled custodial checks, roadside litter pickup, and upkeep for grounds and buildings. Effectively, there is no meaningful program of preventative maintenance program in the NPS because very few parks now have the resources to carry one out. The increased preventative maintenance deferrals then turn into a big increase of the already multi-billion-dollar NPS maintenance backlog. For example:

· Acadia NP: no annual cleaning of ditches and culverts; roadside mowing once per year; less litter patrol, tree trimming, road sweeping and no repair of vehicles; and closure of trail-side restrooms during winter.

· Apostle Islands NL: reduced care of buildings and ground maintenance; only 10 percent of annual deferred trail work completed; closure of two residences, which are being torn up in order to use their parts to fix the other remaining residence; fewer boats being used to support the fleet; and core staffing in maintenance division insufficient to carry out deferred maintenance.

· Biscayne NP: 500 hours short on small boat maintenance; no aids to navigation except reaction emergencies; and small engine repairs deferred.

· Denali NP: unable to carry out a deferred maintenance program; routine inspections reduced; exterior paint of buildings deferred; cleaning of exhibits reduced; cleaning and flushing sewer lines cut; and maintenance of furnaces and HVAC no longer carried out on a schedule.

· Fort Smith NHS: cannot afford to pay for utilities to open a building for use by a partner.

· Gettysburg NMP: postponing the painting of historic structures, roof replacement; cannon carriage repairs; seven maintenance employee positions lost since FY 01.

· Glacier NP: three campgrounds will no longer have potable water or trash service; stopped providing campers with drinkable water at three campgrounds eliminated.

· Glen Canyon NRA: reduced grounds keeping, litter pickup and exterior building maintenance.

· Ozark NSR: continued deterioration of historic buildings; severe reductions in trail maintenance; gravel roads un-maintained, with the lack of work on them increasing the cost of the deferred need turning them into more expensive repair/rehab projects.

· Shenandoah NP: shuttering of a visitor center and the end to interpretive nature programs in a major part of the park, with visitors forced to drive 50 miles for interpretive services.

· Upper Delaware SRR: river buoy program cut by 80 percent; and river safety canoe trips cut by 60 percent.

D. Widespread cuts in seasonal hires will mean future or lower-quality visitor services, interpretive services, resource protection and maintenance. Most of the surveyed parks are reducing their seasonal programs to meet the 85/15 ratio. Reduced seasonals mean these reductions eventually create increased maintenance backlogs, increased preventative maintenance needs, increased resource crimes, increased response times and a lowered level of custodial maintenance in public use areas.

· Acadia NP: 12 cut (would be more dramatic except for soft money and donated funds).

· Apostle Islands NL: eight cut (most reductions from interpretive and maintenance divisions).

· Denali NP: 22 cut (some positions partially funded from soft money).

· Glen Canyon NRA: 10 cut.

· Indiana Dunes NL: 18 cut.

· Olympic NP: 15 cut (almost all seasonals now funded from fee and project funds).

· Ozark NSR: 10 cut.

· Independence NHP: three maintenance; all interpretive positions eliminated prior to 04.

E. Widespread cuts are putting the parks in an almost purely “reactive” posture, falling far short of the law and Congressional intent to protect the resources for future generations. When response times are longer and safety margins are eliminated, ”reactive” parks meet neither the test of Congressional intent nor the interpretation of law because they implicitly do not provide for the protection of the resource for future generations. For example:

· Acadia NP: cut supplies and materials; shifted costs to projects and donation accounts; will not fill critical botanist position; eliminated a maintenance supervisor position and a supervisory interpreter.

· Apostle Islands NL: no hazardous tree inspections; and a lapse of a key bio-tech position representing a third of resource management staff.

· Biscayne NP: entire protection staff on duty on heavy use weekends eliminating resource monitoring patrols for 50 percent of the week; postponed maintenance work creating increased deferral rates, higher backlog rates, and a documented decrease in visitor satisfaction rates.

· Denali NP: reduction of janitorial cleaning; no sign maintenance; and water system testing reduced to bare minimum required by law.

· Upper Delaware SRR: 50 percent cut in maintenance programs; no preventative maintenance on historic bridge; 70 percent reduction in building maintenance; 90 percent reduction in orchard management.

F. The park maintenance backlog has increased rather than been reduced, as promised. Reprogramming operational funds and preventative maintenance funds into reducing the backlog has actually exacerbated the crisis. Today’s operational deferral is tomorrow’s backlog. Now, both operational funding and maintenance backlog are at increased levels that will take years of concerted effort to solve…if it ever is. For example:

· Gettysburg NMP: maintenance backlog has increased from $36.4 million in 2001 to $49.7 million in 2006.

· Ozark NSR: 25 percent in maintenance backlog since 2001.

G. NPS budget shifts are taking place largely at the expense of leaving key staff positions unfilled. There is a clear trend across all parks of increased vacant positions that are lapsed, or totally eliminated to preserve budget ratios. These lapses do not reflect a most efficient professional and support staffing structure but are largely opportunistic in order to reallocate the resultant savings. For example:

· Acadia NP: 14 vacancies in FY 06 and seven in FY 04; permanent positions left vacant to fund seasonal program --four key positions were critical: biological technician, botanist, equipment operator, interpretive supervisor.

· Apostle Islands NL: one unfilled and another position eliminated – the most critical is a bio-tech slot.

· Biscayne NP: seven more vacant positions -- fisheries biologist, biologist, maintenance supervisor, water quality specialist most critical.

· Denali NP: 16 lapsed positions in FY 06, with nine deemed critical, ranging from chief of interpretation to safety officer.

· Fort Smith NHS: one critical position vacant.

· Gettysburg NMP: down four permanent positions since FY 04 and a total of 13 since FY 01 – including critically needed exhibit specialists and preservation workers.

· Glen Canyon NRA: no new unfilled positions.

· Indiana Dunes NL: lost three permanent and seven term custodial positions – five vacant positions are all critical, ranging from bio-technician to law enforcement ranger.

· Independence NHP: six vacant positions in FY 06, compared to FY 04.

· Olympic NP: currently down about 25 positions from three years ago – hard to determine most critical missing positions when so many are unfilled.

· Ozark NSR: 11 positions have lapsed since FY 02 (13 percent of workforce), including three permanent positions lost since FY 04 – with critical needs covering the full operational spectrum, most in maintenance and law enforcement.

· Redwoods NP: in FY 04 there were 13 vacancies; in FY 06 there are “zero” because of the elimination of 16 positions to meet budget ratios.

· Yosemite NP: the park recently had up to 45 seasonal rangers giving talks to visitors – now the park has just eight.

III.

Report Methodology

Sources for this report are as follows:

· Direct survey by CNPSR of 17 national parks from April 3-June 1, 2006.

· GAO, “National Park Service Major Operations Funding Trends and How Selected Park Units Responded to Those Trends for Fiscal Years 2001 through 2005”, by reference (April 5, 2006). Includes specifics on: Yellowstone NP, Yosemite NP, Grand Canyon NP, Harpers Ferry NHP, Valley Forge NHP, Antietam NMP, Ford’s Theatre NHS, Carl Sandburg Home NHS, Fort Sumter NM, Statue of Liberty NM , Yukon-Charley Rivers NP, Lake Mead NRA.

· Reports provided by NPS employees and other public sources. National parks included under this approach included: Glacier NP, Canyonlands NP, Shenandoah NP, Grand Teton NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Big Bend NP, Arkansas Post NM, Hot Springs NP.