Increase annual operating dollars by an additional $600 million, with first priority given to protecting park plants and animals and to improving the Park Service's ability for teaching the public about park ecology.

   The National Parks Conservation Association commissioned a Wirthlin Worldwide poll in July 2001 which revealed that more than 70 percent of the American public believes it is the mission of the National Park Service to protect park plants and animals and that funding this mission should take priority over repairs to roads and buildings serving visitors. 

   Unfortunately, the National Park Service operating budget is only two-thirds of what is needed, an annual operations-funding shortfall of about $600 million, according to research conducted in 40 parks over the past four years by the National Parks Conservation Association. 

Science, natural-resources management, and natural-resource education are consistently among the most under-funded programs.

   In 1999, the Park Service developed the "Natural Resources Challenge: The National Park Service's Action Plan for Preserving Natural Resources," which proposed a multi-year, $100-million initiative aimed at solving long-standing problems by investing more in science-based resource-management projects, hiring more resource professionals, and improving science-based decision-making. 

   The Natural Resource Challenge is the best attempt ever by the Park Service to advance serious, sustained efforts for a large, positive impact on conserving park biodiversity.