March 14th, 2006	Contact: Cameron Hardy 202-224-6441
THOMAS: 2007 PARKS BUDGET UNDER TIGHT CONSTRAINTS $100 million in total cuts to come from construction budget
WASHINGTON – In chairing a hearing today to provide oversight of the National Park Service budget for 2007, U.S. Senator Craig Thomas pushed the NPS leaders to evaluate the future of the parks in terms of adding new units. “You’re now responsible for 390 units in 49 states and territories. Is there any thought about how the Park Service should proceed in terms of growth?” Thomas asked NPS Director Fran Mainella. “We need to monitor closely the magnitude of the management needs in our parks with the reality of tight budgets,” Thomas said. “I’m as passionate as anyone about taking care of our parks, but we are unfortunately operating in a deficit situation.” “We need to make sure that any cuts are carefully reviewed to avoid impacting the visitor experience or potentially damaging resources through neglect,” the Chairman said. “Beginning in 2001, the budget for the National Park Service gradually increased from $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion in 2004 and then it began to decline in 2005. The President’s request for 2007 is $2.16 billion. This is 5 percent or $100 million less than the 2006 appropriation. The majority of cuts are in construction. I am concerned about the impact this may have on the operation and maintenance of our parks and ultimately the visitor experience. Heritage areas, studies of new park units, major maintenance, and escalating fixed costs contribute to the funding challenges the park service must deal with,” Thomas said. Thomas was assured by Mainella that the cuts would not mean significant changes to visitor services or marginalize protection of resources. “Our parks employ more than 23,000 people supporting a mission that brings 270 million visitors to our parks each year – it’s a big job that deserves consistent funding.” Thomas also asked about progress being made in the Grand Teton National Park transportation plan. Deputy Director Steve Martin, former superintendent at GTNP, said that after making several modifications and adjustments, the document was in a “good position to move forward.” On March 3 during a hearing to provide oversight to the Department of Interior’s 2007 Budget, Thomas sought answers from Interior Secretary Gale Norton about the outlook for the NPS budget – particularly in regard to the maintenance backlog. “We need to know what kind of progress we’re making – not just throw money around,” Thomas said at the hearing. “I want to create a clear vision for overcoming our maintenance backlog and I can’t do that if there’s not a clear way to measure what our backlog needs are.” Thomas, the Chairman of the National Parks Subcommittee, pushed department officials on how they’re measuring the backlog of maintenance in our national parks. Norton responded that nearly 6,000 facility improvements have been made over the last five years. Tracking Maintenance Backlog Thomas asked about what type of long range program Interior has implemented to track the maintenance backlog and prioritize future maintenance requirements. The Parks Chairman also queried Interior about how much funding Interior estimates it will take to complete the remainder of the effort to catch up with maintenance issues in our nation’s parks. Heritage Areas In each hearing Thomas asked Norton and Mainella about the funding model for National Heritage Areas. “Does the National Historic Preservation Act allow you to use the Historic Preservation Funds to pay for National Heritage Areas? What changes should we make to the National Heritage Areas to benefit Interior management and oversight?” Thomas asked at the hearing. “I’m concerned about how Interior is budgeting for Heritage Areas. The costs of these provisions underscore the need to pass my Heritage Area criteria bill. These areas are too often adopted without proper consideration for the cost and management of the area. My bill would go a long way toward getting a hold of these problems.” Thomas has introduced S. 243, a bill that requires Heritage Areas to conform to a set list of criteria and caps the funding level for each designation.
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