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| Opportunities & Exposures |
Paradise Lost
Thomas C. Kiernan
08/02/2004
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This summer, millions of visitors will enjoy our nation’s most spectacular
public treasures, such as Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park
and Gettysburg National Military Park and Cemetery. Unfortunately, these and
other national parks might not live up to their expectations. Chronic
underfunding and an increasing number of unbudgeted mandates, such as the need
to protect national park icons and borders from terrorism, have taken a toll on
the 387 sites within the system.
With a 2004 budget of $2.3 billion, the
National Park Service (NPS) currently operates with only a fraction of the
funding it needs. The systemwide shortfall translates into limits on staffing
and resources. This cripples parks across the system in numerous ways. Science
suffers at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, where the park service
lacks the resources to monitor endangered species. Meanwhile, priceless museum
collections are piled up in offices at Little Bighorn Battlefield National
Monument in Montana and boxed up in a basement at Acadia National Park in
Maine.
Nearly seven years ago, the National Parks Conservation Association
(NPCA) partnered with the park service to craft the National Parks Business Plan
Initiative (BPI), which strives to improve financial oversight of the parks.
Park managers often have limited training in financial management, so analyzing
and assessing funding problems and needs can prove difficult. BPI brings in MBA
students to assist managers at more than 60 national park sites, setting
priorities for funding and strategies for improving and preserving park
resources. Research gleaned through this program shows that, on average,
America’s national parks operate with only two-thirds of the funding they need,
an annual shortfall in excess of $600 million. This principally affects
maintenance and research programs.
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