Happy Easter! We hope that you enjoyed the beautiful spring weekend. Sadly, an article in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer about severe budget cuts to the National Parks was anything but sunny.
Matt Stearn's article entitled, National Parks Ordered to Squeeze Budgets, Forcing Cuts in Services, reports that, the Bush administration has ordered the United States' national parks to show that they can function at 80 percent or less of their operating budgets, and that's forcing some parks to cut services for visitors as summer approaches.
80%! As you know from our Site Reviews, NPS sites already operate on shoestring budgets. In many sites volunteers take the place of, rather than supplement, park rangers. We have already encountered truncated seasons and limited hours of operations. Interpretive tours and ranger talks, once plentiful and free, are fading fast into memory like a $2 gallon of gas.
For instance, Gettysburg National Military Park..., which just began its core operations analysis, no longer has a historical architect or a monument preservationist...The park has 1,300 monuments and 148 historic structures.Are America's National Parks and the Great American Road Trip in danger? We know what we think; tell us your thoughts at gabandmichael@usa-c2c.com.
Monday
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