Heard these dire warnings before?:
“We’re on the verge of crossing the line to where the public will notice ‘service cuts.'”
About 20 percent of the summer staff is being cut.
Staff-led program requests from one of every four schools is denied.
Trash pickup is sporadic because of staffing cuts.
“A record number of Americans is going to visit this summer, and they’re going to be disappointed.”
Who are we talking about here? It’s the National Parks Service! The information comes from “a pair of new reports by two groups critical of the Bush administration’s park policy.” Who are they?
One is the Coalition of Concerned National Park Retirees, a “non-partisan group of about 200 former park workers and executives has been critical of the Bush administration’s parks policy.” Nonpartisan? Really? They have no personal interest in this at all? This group, says USA Today, “will reveal what it calls previously undisclosed cuts that have resulted in the removal of lifeguards from beaches and trimmed visitor center hours.” Oooh…they have outed the Bush Administration on its secretive plan to systematically remove lifeguards and visitor center workers!
The other “critical” group is the National Parks Conservation Association, another “non-partisan” park watchdog group. They say “budget shortfalls are ‘crippling’ parks, and staffing is reaching ‘crisis proportions.'”
Jeff McFarland, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, says: “Frequently, a visitor will not see a ranger” during a visit to a national park. What? Are they supposed to be part of the attraction?
“The Park Service has tried to offset new expenses by raising fees and using volunteers to help visitors at its 387 parks,” the newspaper reports. “But even these measures aren’t enough.”
The Locker Room faithful know the real policy answer to all this, but since we’re not likely to see this bureaucracy go away anytime soon, I say this: leave me a map, pick up the trash, and leave me alone.
