Congress Hears Parks' Funding Needs for Earth Day; Conservation Group Highlights Funding Shortages for Rangers, Visitor Safety, and Park Roads

Summary

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WASHINGTON, April 22 /U.S. Newswire/ -- At a congressional hearing today about the funding needs of the national parks, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) provided testimony on the shortage of interpretive rangers in the parks, the affects of funding on visitor safety, and the conditions of park roadways. The hearing, held in DC and hosted by Government Reform, Criminal Justice Subcommittee Chairman Mark Souder (R-Ind.), was the second in a series of congressional hearings to be held over the next two years to examine the funding needs of America's national parks.

"Over our 86-year history, NPCA has found that the most pervasive challenge facing America's parks is the failure of successive congresses and presidential administrations to fund them adequately," said Gretchen Long, current member and former chair of the NPCA board of trustees. "If recent funding trends continue, the picture will only worsen. The current proposed increase for fiscal year 2006 will likely lead to more service cutbacks in parks, unless Congress substantially increases funding above the president's request."

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Congress Hears Parks' Funding Needs for Earth Day; Conservation Group Highlights Funding Shortages for Rangers, Visitor Safety, and Park Roads

Specifically, NPCA called on Congress to increase the parks' base operations budget by $100 million...

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