For Immediate Release

May 4, 2005

INTERIOR BILL INCLUDES PARK STAFFING FUNDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A House subcommittee Wednesday approved the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies appropriations bill for the next fiscal year, once again providing an increase in National Park Service operations funding to maintain staffing levels at the National Parks, said U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the panel’s top-ranking Democratic member.

            After the subcommittee boosted the FY 2005 park operations funding by more than $60 million to recognize the expected increases in fixed costs that had perennially resulted in staffing declines, the Bush Administration responded by including these costs – mostly mandatory increases in pay and benefits – in its proposed FY 2006 budget, Rep. Dicks said.   In approving the Interior funding bill for the next fiscal year today, the congressman said the subcommittee included $52 million above the level appropriated for the current year to accommodate these costs and to provide for a steady level of full-time and seasonal workers at the parks.

            After surveying the operations accounts of the major National Parks and historic sites, Dicks and Subcommittee Chairman Charles Taylor (R-NC) found that most parks had reduced staff or left vacant positions unfilled because of the cumulative impact of budgets that failed to include fixed cost increases.  “At some parks, the decline was dramatic and it seriously affected the quality of the visitor experience that citizens should expect,” Rep. Dicks said.

            The bill that was approved today also includes another increment of funding --$10 million -- for the Elwha River restoration project, which will involve the removal of two dams that have blocked fish passage along the Elwha River since the early 1900s.  Since most of the habitat along the river has been protected within Olympic National Park, the project offers one of the most environmentally-significant fishery habitat restoration projects in the nation, Rep. Dicks said.

            This year the Interior bill also includes the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency, which was sharply reduced in the Bush Administration’s budget request for the next fiscal year.  One of those cuts – more than $340 million – affected the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which offers grants and low-interest loans to local governments to build water treatment plants.  At Rep. Dicks request, Subcommittee Chairman Taylor added $100 million to the EPA budget to recognize the importance of the State Revolving Fund and soften the impact of the budget reduction.

            The appropriations bill also funds the U.S. Geological Survey, which conducts important research and monitoring of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic events, among other functions.  Following the disastrous impact of the South Asian tsunami in December, and with increased seismic activity on Mount St. Helens in Washington State nearing the 25th anniversary of the volcano’s eruption, Rep. Dicks noted that the USGS budget contains a $6.28 million boost for the agency’s monitoring activities.  The USGS budget also includes another $912,000 increment for its contribution to the research involved in the Puget Sound Initiative, addressing pollution-related problems.

            In addition, Rep. Dicks said that the appropriations bill adds $14.307 million for reconstruction of the Henry M. Jackson Visitors Center at Mount Rainier National Park, in addition to $7.9 million to rehabilitate Paradise Inn, both located at the 5,400 foot level of Mount Rainier.  Finally, another $2.25 million was provided in the bill to begin construction of a visitor center at the Hanford Reach National Monument/Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 2000 to manage the last free-flowing stretch of the Columbia River.


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