Editorial: National parks facing crisis

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 | 7:14 a.m.

President Bush is calling for even more reductions in national parks' budgets, which means visitors may see fewer water stations, fewer open restrooms and fewer ranger programs this summer.

According to a Knight-Ridder Newspapers report, the Bush administration has ordered national park managers to show that they can function on 80 percent or less than their current operating budgets. National Park Service officials have said the edict is an effort to manage rising salaries, utilities and other operating costs. In response, park managers are proposing a variety of cuts, from slashing ranger-led interpretive programs to closing restrooms.

For example, Utah's Zion National Park will reduce cleaning in some restrooms, while neighboring Bryce Canyon National Park will reduce its backcountry patrols.

In Glacier National Park, Knight-Ridder reports, three campgrounds no longer will have trash service - in a park known for its grizzly population.

A report by the Government Accountability Office says many parks already had reduced visitors' services in response to an existing $5 billion maintenance backlog. And this summer's new service reductions won't even address the additional $100.5 million Bush proposes to whittle from the Park Service's $2.1 billion budget in 2007.

Thanks to Bush, America's national park visitors - some of whom pay up to $65 for annual passes - no longer will get what they pay for. They will get less.