Over the next two years, Republican leaders must choose to continue to protect the national parks or look out for the special interests of a few.
BY CRAIG OBEY
Opportunity rich and high risk. That's the political outlook for our national parks during the new 108th Congress.
The Republican party now holds the Presidency and majorities in both Houses of Congress. That means they control the future of our national parks. Party members must choose between two courses—carrying the mantle of great Republican leaders such as Teddy Roosevelt, the father of some of our most cherished national parks, or carrying water for special interests who want to fatten their pocketbooks by compromising the natural and cultural heritage that our parks protect.
This year, Congress and the White House will continue to devote enormous attention to national security and the war on terror, as they must. But those pressing challenges will make protecting the precious American icons that lift our spirits, remind us of who we are, and nourish our dreams even more important. As Teddy Roosevelt said, "Of all the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us. . . ."
Roosevelt's words ring as true today as they did when he spoke them in 1910. Indeed, past presidents have given significant support to the parks during times of war. President Abraham Lincoln protected Yosemite Valley during the Civil War. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt took actions during World Wars I and II to protect places that have become key parts of our park system. They demonstrated strong domestic leadership by protecting enduring symbols of our treasured American landscape. We need the same from President Bush and the new Congress.
During the next two years, we will see one of two things. The president will either provide genuine leadership to meet his election-year pledge to protect the national parks or use photo opportunities with national park backdrops to distract attention from backroom deals like the one that will allow snowmobiles to continue to pollute Yellowstone. Efforts are already under way to unravel piece-by-piece vitally important laws such as the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, which play critical roles in preserving our parks.
The good news is that parks—cherished by Americans from all walks of life—have friends on Capitol Hill in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Some old friends will be absent, such as Senators Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), Max Cleland (D-Ga.) and Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.). But frequent park antagonists such as Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. James Hansen (R-Utah) also will be absent.
Some strong supporters of the parks have also lost key positions. Among the more unfortunate changes resulting from the November elections is the replacement of Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.) with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) as chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.
Unlike Jeffords, who was using his chair to promote park-protecting amendments to the Clean Air Act, Inhofe is far more likely to try shifting clean air laws in favor of polluters at the expense of hikers and others who breathe air in national parks, such as Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains, that is worse than the air over Atlanta or Washington, D.C. In fact, anti-public-health forces may seek a rewrite of the Clean Air Act, as well as use more subtle methods, such as cutting enforcement budgets and tacking anti-environmental riders onto appropriations bills. The shift in congressional control means that Congress is less likely to put a brake on the administration's efforts to weaken such protections.
Transportation in the parks is another area of enormous challenge in the coming year. Congress, led by Inhofe and Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), will authorize the massive law that funds transportation projects across the country. Unfortunately, Sen. Paul Sarbanes' (D-Md.) loss of the Banking Committee chair, where he had jurisdiction over transit issues, jeopardizes his Transit in the Parks bill, which would provide sorely needed solutions for the most heavily visited parks. Enormous energy will be required to prevent the parks from adding to the backlog of unmet transportation, transit, and pedestrian needs.
Finally the appropriations committees will remain important for the national parks. The growing deficit will limit funding opportunities, making continued attention to the needs of the parks important. During 2002 the Republican House proposed more operating funds for the parks in fiscal year 2003 than either the Senate or the president. Those funds were jeopardized by last year's breakdown of the appropriations process. In November, Congress passed a continuing resolution that means much, if not all, of the $120 million increase the House proposed for the Park Service for fiscal year 2003 could be lost.
The funding news is not all bad. A strong bipartisan contingent in Congress supports increased funding. This group ranges from conservatives such as Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), the new Senate Interior Appropriations chairman, to civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). But the parks will also need strong leadership from newcomers such as Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).
Adding to the intrigue of the coming year is President Bush's as yet-unmet election-year pledge to protect the national parks. In 2000, then-Governor Bush pledged to eliminate what he anticipated at the time to be a $4.9 billion maintenance backlog. The administration has made little progress on that pledge, $2.7 billion of which candidate Bush said would come from this year's transportation reauthorization bill.
It's clear that national parks have an enormous amount to win or to lose in the coming year. Congress and the administration must remember that protecting America also means protecting the things we cherish here at home. To paraphrase President Nixon, the coming year must be the year when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment. What greater way to pay that debt than to protect our national parks.
