Editorial: Actions speak loudly

Monday, March 26, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

In terior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park last week to begin a national tour promoting the Bush administration's plan to infuse the national park system with $3 billion over the next decade.

The plan is being hailed as a "gift" to the park system, which turns 100 in 2016. More accurately, it is an infusion of long-overdue funding for a 390-park network - one that won't even cover the system's $5 billion maintenance backlog.

Last Tuesday, on the first of his tour's 17 stops, Kempthorne explained that the Bush administration has proposed a $258 million increase for the national parks in fiscal 2008 and is calling for a $100 million increase in each of the next 10 years. The money will help improve operations, such as restoring some 3,000 seasonal park ranger positions. Bush also proposes $100 million in annual federal funding through 2016 to match $100 million annually in private donations for projects to commemorate the national parks centennial.

Bush's proposal seems to be a refreshing turnaround from the $100 million the president sought to cut from the parks this fiscal year. But we remain skeptical. A 2006 report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigating arm of Congress, showed that previous Bush budgets had forced some parks to reduce visitor services. In 2005 the president even proposed to raise money for maintenance through sponsorships that would allow corporations to place their names on park facilities.

We hope the centennial projects program isn't just another attempt to allow park benches sporting such names as Exxon Mobil or Philip Morris at scenic pullouts. National parks aren't football stadiums, and we should preserve them as places where commercialism isn't allowed.

But this is the same administration that just slashed $2.5 billion from the National Wildlife Refuge System. The nation's 547 refuges are cutting 565 jobs, leaving more than 200 refuges without any staff whatsoever. Habitat protection, conservation projects and education programs are coming to a grinding halt.

Bush has shown time and time again that he cannot be trusted to protect this nation's natural environment. So we are wary of this latest national parks initiative. At first glance, the increased funding looks to be just what this ailing system needs. But we are skeptical about these centennial projects, which we hope won't allow corporations to place their stamp on our nation's crown jewels.