WHAT WE DO

   Fifty-one years ago, historian Bernard De Voto said, "The progressive impairment of the parks by budgetary bloodletting is a national disgrace." Sadly, that statement remains as true today as it was in 1954.

   While national parks remain premier destinations for American families, a description of current conditions in our parks is unacceptable: dilapidated historic buildings; education cutbacks; traffic jams; marijuana farms operated by drug cartels; forests besieged by foreign insects; dirty restrooms; and crumbling artifacts.

   To be sure, the National Park Service does a great job with the limited funding available, and most visitors enjoy their vacations. But behind the scenes-and sometimes peeking through the curtain-is a growing litany of problems caused by chronic underfunding. It is an unfortunate reality rooted in decades of inadequate investment by the American public, Congress, and the White House. But we can no longer neglect our responsibility to act. The national parks represent America's heritage-our legacy to the future. Under current conditions, the future for the parks is not a bright one.

   The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has compiled a list of the Top 10 Reasons to Reinvest in America's National Park Heritage. But really, we need only one: America's national parks are the legacy we leave to our children and to future generations.

   With the 100th birthday of the National Park System approaching in 2016, we have a prime opportunity to renew our commitment to these national treasures and invest in their protection to ensure a healthy, happy birthday for the park system and the dedicated staff that continue to inspire the world.

Icons of Democracy, Landscapes of American Heritage

   Our national parks include icons of democracy such as the Statue of Liberty, the home of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the battlefields of Palo Alto, Fort Necessity, Little Bighorn, and Gettysburg. We are inspired by Thomas Edison's laboratory, the cliff houses at Mesa Verde, the vast chasm of the Grand Canyon, and the Seneca Falls, New York, home of suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. We bring our families to enjoy campfire stories at Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite and marvel at the giant trees in Redwoods National Park, the bison in Yellowstone, the barbells next to Frederick Douglass's bed, Hawaii's fiery volcanoes, and the views from the Great Smoky Mountains.

   These are the places that inspire us as a nation, teach our children about America's history and the wonders of the natural world, and realize the dreams of our forefathers that "the parks contain the highest potentialities of national pride, national contentment, and national health."

   To do so, we must take immediate action to address the chronic funding shortfalls that are crippling the National Park Service's ability to serve as guardian of the nation's heritage.

Key Recommendations:

A. Pass the Centennial Act

   A bipartisan group of representatives, led by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) and Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), have a strategy for helping to make the National Park System fiscally healthy by its centennial in 2016.

   Their innovative legislation, the National Park Centennial Act, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 9, 2004, and re-introduced in the 109th Congress on March 3, 2005. If passed, the bill would establish a National Park Centennial Fund within the U.S. Treasury, which would be funded in part by a voluntary check-off on federal tax returns. Individual Americans would now have the opportunity to leave a legacy for their children and future generations by making a personal contribution to the preservation of the nation's heritage.

   The Centennial Fund would provide a guaranteed stream of additional funding through the park system's centennial to address the non-road maintenance backlog, and augment resources available for many of the natural, historic, and cultural preservation needs chronicled in this report.

   Congress and the administration should support the passage of this legislation. As well, a continued focus on securing sufficient annual operating funds, passing the transportation bill, and improving park management would enable the Park Service to fulfill its mission to truly protect and preserve the national parks.

B. Increase Annual Funding

   In fiscal year 2005, Congress responded to public concern and provided a record increase of nearly 5 percent for the operations of each of the nation's 388 national park sites. This welcome investment, an acknowledgement of the seriousness of the problem, will help to offset cost-of-living increases for dedicated park staff and in some parks, will also stop the loss of additional staffing and programs this year.

   Fortunately, the administration's proposed national parks budget for fiscal year 2006 recognizes the importance of at least maintaining this level of funding to cover fixed costs. However, it goes no further in addressing the problems chronicled in this report. With this budget, the national parks are barely treading water for another year.

   Without greater progress, a crippling annual operating shortfall - which continues to exceed $600 million according to NPCA's 2004 analysis-threatens America's national parks.

C. Approve the Transportation Bill

   Congress and the administration can take a significant step toward addressing the maintenance backlog in the parks by enacting the Senate version of the transportation bill. This legislation would provide $320 million annually over the next six years for critical park needs such as road and bridge repairs.

D. Improve Management Resources

   All of the sites within the National Park System should complete and implement a business plan to help guide decisions about where to allocate funding and staffing. Investment should be made to enable parks to implement the recommendations of these plans that encourage greater efficiency.

   Additionally, the administration's forthcoming Facility Condition Index, which assesses the condition of historic structures and buildings throughout the park system, can only meet its potential as a management tool if funding is made available to use it.

Report Methodology

   NPCA compiled this report, published in lieu of the organization's annual list of America's Ten Most Endangered National Parks, because feedback from Park Service employees, coupled with on-the-ground research, revealed that insufficient funding is the single greatest threat to the health of the national parks today-demanding immediate attention. The list was compiled by NPCA's program experts and reflects the categories of needed investments that individual national parks forward each year in their annual budget requests.

Fact Sheets

   The fact sheets that follow highlight some of the most pernicious impacts of insufficient funding on our national parks. Real examples from parks used throughout the fact sheets, which themselves are not in any particular order, are offered as examples of system-wide requirements and do not dictate a hierarchy of needs.

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