Olympic National Park faces cutbacks
Olympic National Park is so pressed for cash that officials plan to close the visitors center in Forks and eliminate most seasonal rangers this summer, and they agreed to keep the popular Hurricane Ridge Road open in April only after the city of Port Angeles promised to help foot the snowplow bill.
The plans were brought to light by the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA), a national-parks advocacy group, which is releasing a report today suggesting that chronic money shortages and rising expenses are forcing park superintendents across the country to make painful decisions on how to spend their money this year.
The report contends that officials overseeing the nation's 387 parks or historic sites are freezing jobs and cutting programs and asking staffers to make do with less — a trend some parks officials in Washington state reluctantly confirmed seeing here. They're hoping visitors won't notice much of a difference this year.
At Mount Rainier National Park, for example, Superintendent Dave Uberuaga said he is keeping a key administrative position vacant to free up enough cash to keep his summer seasonal work force employed.
At Olympic, Park Superintendent Bill Laitner said he's working with the mayor of Forks, Clallam County, hoping they can find a compromise to help keep the park's visitors center there staffed through the summer.
"In general, there has been a basic budget erosion over many years," said Holly Bundock, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service's regional office in Oakland, Calif., adding that it occurred under several presidents. "The current administration emphasizes maintenance backlog and security. We've made a commitment to focus on those areas, so those are funded, and we've had to shift resources to accomplish those goals. That may leave other areas in the park system weaker."
Continue reading this story from the Seattle Times:
Olympic National Park needs cash