Difficult economic times call for creativity, Director Jarvis told members of a House subcommittee yesterday when he presented the bureau’s 2011 budget request.
“I know some people believe the use of ‘government’ and ‘creativity’ in the same sentence is oxymoronic,” he said, “but it doesn’t have to be. It can’t be.”
The $2.73 billion budget proposal for the National Park Service is $22 million less than the 2010 appropriations, “a fact of these economic times,” Jarvis said. “We will be creative to meet the needs of park visitors, protect park resources, and continue our partnerships that help revitalize communities through local recreation and historic preservation projects.”
“This budget supports our mission,” Jarvis said in his testimony before the House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. “This budget supports the gains we’ve made with the backing of Congress. It supports Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar’s goals to preserve treasured landscapes, addresses the challenge of resource stewardship made more difficult by global climate change, and encourages all Americans – especially the youth of our nation – to discover a personal connection to national parks.”
The 2011 spending plan includes two important programs for young people. “Last year we received $5 million for internships to introduce high school and college-aged youth to career opportunities in natural and cultural resources management. In 2011, we hope to add $5.8 million to expand this program to 29 parks and dedicate another $6.4 million of fee receipts to youth-powered projects such as trail maintenance and trail building at parks across the national park system,” Jarvis said
“This program provides opportunities for young people to explore their national parks while they help visitors discover our shared heritage,” Jarvis said. “And they earn a paycheck for a summer.”
The budget continues a $10 million appropriation for climate science. “The National Park Service has a unique and an important role in climate change,” Jarvis said. “National parks are familiar places to the public and already exhibit effects from a changing climate that our ongoing inventory and monitoring system documents as they happen.”
The budget proposes base funding increases at 127 national parks, including funds to:
Staff and operate the William Fitts Ryan Visitor Center at the Jamaica Bay unit of Gateway National Recreation Area (NY, NJ) when it reopens after a two-year rehabilitation effort.
Fight plant poachers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (TN, NC) where botanists warn the park’s entire ginseng population is at risk of elimination.
Monitor the health of ocean park coral and fish populations and provide park ranger programs – in the parks and on-line – to explain ocean park resources and where they are at risk.
“America's best idea was to set aside national parks for their protection and our enjoyment. We sustain that best idea by investing taxpayer dollars so that parks are preserved for future generations,” Jarvis said.
“For less than $10 per citizen each year the national parks offer the opportunity to experience some of the most amazing natural landscapes on the planet and the authentic places where history was made,” Jarvis said. “That investment is returned many times over. Spending by park visitors – 285 million of them in 2009 – contributed an estimated $12 billion to local economies within 50 miles of national parks.
“We thank America’s taxpayers for their support and pledge to make the best use of the funds Congress provides to preserve the places entrusted to our care for today’s visitors and for generations to come,” Jarvis said.
Please visit http://www.nps.gov for more information about America’s national parks.
