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National parks in Utah and elsewhere face unprecedented pressures. As it nears its centennial, the National Park Service is ill-prepared for the future. That's the view of 650 former park managers, rangers and employees.
The National Park Service is holding a big summit today here in Utah. The agency wants to boost funding and appreciation of the parks.
However, a group of former park employees is urging more sweeping reforms, including addressing global climate change -- an issue that's obviously not a big priority with this administration.
The National Park Service turns 100 in the year 2016. But if you ask a coalition of hundreds of its former leaders and workers, it's showing its age. "I think some parks are definitely in crisis; some are in trouble," said Phil Brueck, with the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.
Challenges include deteriorating facilities, shrinking staff numbers -- including rangers being replaced by volunteers -- and a drop-off in visitors.
At today's summit at Snowbird, leadership laid out an ambitious $3 billion fundraising plan with new efforts to get Americans to reconnect with the parks.
"When it comes to national parks, I don't want sound bites, I want sound policies," said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.
The director of the National Park Service added another concern: global climate change. In California, for example, park managers are seeing unprecedented fire behavior, higher temperatures and low humidity. "The so-called fire season is now becoming a year-long issue," director Mary Bomar said.
When asked why he didn't mention the issue of global climate change in his remarks today, Kempthorne said, "Tomorrow the deputy secretary, that's her topic, and so that'll be included."
Former employees say the agency needs an in-depth look at how it's run by a nonpartisan commission. "That's the way you're going to solve issues related to parks that have to do with global climate change, that have to do with staffing issues, that have to do with budget issues; these are things you can't fix sometimes by just throwing more volunteers or more money at it," said Bill Wade, also with the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.
The retirees say, so far, they've heard nothing from the leaders at the Department of Interior or the National Park Service about setting up that independent commission.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service will see a big spotlight on it next year when a new PBS documentary by Ken Burns airs.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
