WHAT WE DO

   Established in 1895 and transferred to the National Park Service in 1933, Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, protects nearly 6,000 acres of natural and historic lands where the Union Army repelled the second Confederate invasion of the North during the Civil War. Park staff also manages the nearby Eisenhower National Historic Site, which is the 230-acre country estate of the 34th president of the United States.

   According to the park's business plan, Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site need an additional $3.6 million dollars annually to alleviate threats to park resources and to improve the experiences of visitors. Despite small operating increases, Gettysburg's purchasing power declined on average by about 3.5 percent annually between fiscal year 1999 through fiscal year 2002 because of costs beyond the park's control and unfunded mandates. As a result, the park has fewer staff and a growing backlog of maintenance projects because the park managers are forced to defer work.

   With current shortfalls, the Park Service has been unable to inventory much of Gettysburg's irreplaceable archival collection, which includes maps, photos, and other documents. Less than half of the archival collection is catalogued. Until this process is completed, the archives are vulnerable to loss or damage and remain unknown to visitors. Ranger tours and education programs reach less than 5 percent of nearly 2 million park visitors annually. The park must deny education program requests from one out of every four schools-affecting 2,500 students annually. As a result of funding and staffing shortfalls, the number of public education programs offered each day at the Eisenhower National Historic Site was recently reduced from four to two, for example, and the site has ceased all interpretation at the Eisenhower show barn.

   This summer, Gettysburg is deferring maintenance to its many historic structures because it is not refilling the vacant position of a preservation specialist. A seasonal maintenance position is being eliminated, so the Gettysburg National Cemetery will not be mowed as frequently. Several seasonal interpreters are not being hired back-further reducing public education programs.

   The administration's fiscal year 2005 budget requested of Congress an increase of $188,000 to pay Gettysburg's utility and service bills for a new sewer system and fire suppression systems.