Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Friday, May 28, 2004

Bush shortchanging National Parks

KOMO 4 reports that Washington's Olympic National Park will be facing shortfalls in funding this year, thanks to the Bush administration's continued ignorance of national parks.
Budget constraints mean there will be fewer staffers and fewer services this summer at Olympic National Park, officials say.

The park is one of many across the nation facing cutbacks this season.

The number of staff members at the 923,000-acre preserve is as low as it's been in a decade, park Superintendent Bill Laitner said Tuesday. A lack of adequate funding, coupled with a 4.1 percent employee pay increase, will also force the closure of the park's visitor center in Forks two days a week, he said.

"One of the things the Bush administration promised was to fund the national parks," said U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, who toured the park on Tuesday. The Washington Democrat's visit was led by officials from the National Park Service and the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit advocate for national parks. "They haven't kept that promise."
The KOMO TV story goes into more depth.

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