Below is an interesting and alarming letter to the Director of the National
Park Service from numerous Park Service professionals. The letter discusses
current problems with the management of our national parks including
proposals for decreased regulation of air pollution near parks, funding
problems, outsourcing of park service staff, and increases in allowed uses
of national parks (e.g. snowmobiling in Yellowstone N.P.).

_____________________
Emily B. Roberson, Ph.D.
Director
Native Plant Conservation Campaign
*NEW ADDRESS*
2707 K Street, Suite 1
Sacramento 95816

Phone: 415 970 0394
E-MAIL: EMILYR@cnps.org
Web: http://www.cnps.org/NPCC

The mission of the NPCC is to promote appreciation and conservation of
native plant species and communities through collaboration, education, law,
policy, land use and management.

The NPCC is a project of the Center for Biological Diversity and the
California Native Plant Society.


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Subject: NTEU: August 25, 2003 letter to director Mainella

August 25, 2003

The Honorable Fran Mainella
Director, National Park Service
U. S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Director Mainella:

Today we celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the National
Park Service. As non-political career professionals retired from the NPS,
we are expressing our concern about the state of the National Park Service
and the System and its natural, cultural and recreational resources.

Eighty seven years ago, the founders of the NPS faced many challenges, but
left us with some precedents and standards that ring in our ears today.
Within four years after the NPS was created, legislation was proposed to
construct in Yellowstone National Park a series of dams, canals and
reservoirs designed to supply the Idaho potato farmers with more water.
This legislation was endorsed by then Secretary of the Interior Franklin
Lane. Despite his boss' position on the issue, Stephen T. Mather, the
Service's first Director, publicly condemned the project as a "desecration
of the people's playground for the benefit of a few individuals or
corporations," and he appealed that all such commercial exploitation of
the national parks be denied by Congress.

When Mather was forced by a paralytic stroke to quit in 1928, John D.
Rockefeller in a tribute to Mather said he wanted "to give myself as a
citizen of the United States the pleasure of telling you of my admiration
and appreciation of what you have done in building up the parks and the
park service during the years of your leadership of that department. . . .
There is perhaps no other department in the national government run on so
high a plane and so wholly in the interest of the public which it serves."

Today, it seems that the National Park Service is no longer being run
"wholly in the interest of the public which it serves."

Today, the national parks face a number of threats, many exploitive in
nature that seem intended to favor special and commercial interests.
Unlike Mather, and most Directors since, we have not seen you speak
compellingly
in support of the values and purposes of the parks and their resources. To
the contrary, you sometimes voice support for the policies and proposed
legislation that threaten the purposes of the parks and their resources.

For example, had we not seen your name attributed, many of us who read the
"guest opinion" in "The Tennessean" (Nashville) on July 29, 2003 entitled
"'Clear Skies' Plan is the Affordable Way To Go" would have ascribed it to
a representative of the power or coal industry.

We are disappointed that it seems to support legislation that eliminates
the ability to apply sound NPS science and park manager expertise to any
new source as close to a national park as 31 miles. Within the past month,
levels of ozone unhealthy to humans were triggered for two days in
Shenandoah National Park from sources hundreds of miles away in the upper
Midwest. These sources do no less damage to park resources than would a
source 30 miles from the boundary. And, according to your own NPS air
quality experts, the "Clear Skies" initiative simply will not bring
visibility into "100% compliance" as you contend. And your statement,
"Clear Skies is also projected to increase the production of coal in this
region, continuing economic growth and the creation of new jobs" is a
startling statement to be made by a Director of the National Park Service.
You spoke of "balance," but this is not "balance" ? it is derogation. It
was never intended that the national parks should be managed for economic
growth and cost benefit.

Derogation is the only term applicable to other recent or proposed actions
affecting NPS areas, such as the "compromise" allowing continued
snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park;expansion of drilling in Padre
Island
National Seashore into critical habitat;bargaining away historic water
rights that could seriously impact the ecology of Black Canyon of the
Gunnison National Parkand the potentially damaging effects of RS-2477.

Upon his retirement in 1933, Horace Albright, the second Director of the
NPS, left his colleagues an admonition. He said, "Do not let the Service
become 'just another government bureau.'" Those of us who since have
proudly served in the National Park Service worked hard to follow
Albright's guidance. Sadly, today it appears our efforts have been
diminished. In the last two years, the values and purposes of the Service
have been compromised and it has moved closer to being 'just another
government bureau' than ever before in its first 87 years of existence.

We are troubled by the fact that several senior career leaders in the NPS
have left (or are leaving) the NPS prematurely,or have been reassigned to
positions that reduce their contribution. There is evidence that advice
from career professionals in the NPS is devalued or ignored and that the
effectiveness of the National Leadership Council ? the entity that has
served as the only voice for career senior leadership in the National Park
Service ? has been limited.

We are troubled by examples of misleading or inaccurate statements
emanating from your office. The implication in your "Partnering and
Managing for Excellence" report of July 3, 2003 that the NPS has received
$2.9 billion to reduce the "maintenance backlog" is misleading because we
now know that only about 12% of that is "new" money. Moreover, the report
touts "900 projects" being undertaken to reduce the maintenance backlog,
while the list of projects sent to us by your office shows only 840
projects, 70 of which are listed as "emergency" projects, for which it is
misleading to categorize as "backlog" projects.To compound this
misinformation, Dave Barna recently claimed that President Bush never
promised to "reduce" the maintenance backlog ? just promised to commit
money to it. However, then-candidate Bush is quoted in USA Today, October
27, 2000, saying, "I will ensure that the federal government meets its
responsibilities by devoting $5 billion to eliminate the backlog in
maintenance and improvements at our national parks."

In your testimony to the Senate National Parks Subcommittee on July 24,
2003 you implied, and in your subsequent guest opinion in the Federal
Times
(July 28, 2003) you stated that, "through competitive sourcing, we decided
to contract this work [temporary lifeguards in parks on the eastern
seaboard] to private lifeguard companies. These companies hired our former
employees and gave them full-time, year-round jobs. The local community
benefits through enhanced opportunities for local businesses. Our former
employees benefit by getting better pay and more work." Moreover, in your
testimony, you implied that these employees were receiving "benefits." On
July 30, at our request, Dave Barna of your office told us that the
contractor to which you referred was All Points Logistics, which provides
contract lifeguards at Canaveral National Seashore and Cape Hatteras
National Seashore. The contractor provided us with the following
information:

* All Points Logistics is based in Gainsville, GA. How does that benefit
the "local communities" at Cape Hatteras and Cape Canaveral any more than
government-hired lifeguards would?
* The lifeguards are NOT "full-time, year-round" jobs.
* The lifeguards are paid about the equivalent of a GS-5/2 by All Points
Logistics ? probably about the same as they were receiving before.
* The only "benefits" received by them are free lessons, and in the case
of
Cape Hatteras, a reduction in housing price, which may not be any less
than
what they would have paid for seasonal NPS housing.

In your testimony, you stressed the need to "correct misunderstandings
currently associated with the Park Service competitive sourcing
initiative." Examples, such as the one you used,are not accomplishing your
stated intentions.

Our continuing contacts and networks with current employees of the NPS
indicate that the disappointment expressed by many in our group exists
within the Service, as well. Our assessment is that morale in the NPS is
the lowest that many of us can remember in as many as the last fifty
years.
Some would assume that this is the result of threats to jobs brought on by
the competitive sourcing initiative. While this might contribute, those we
talk with are far more dejected by the barrage of policies and legislative
initiatives that these dedicated, career professionals believe will weaken
the mission of the NPS and cause harm to the collective values that the
national park system represents. And they (and we) don't see a Director
who
is demonstrating aggressive actions to protect those values.

You have invited us to meet with you to discuss our concerns. We will soon
be contacting your office for an appointment to do that.

Sincerely,

Bill Briggle
Deputy Director, NPS

Rob Arnberger
Regional Director,
Alaska Region

Bob Barbee
Regional Director,
Alaska Region

Chester L. Brooks
Regional Director,
Northeast Region

Joe Brown
Regional Director,
Southeast Region

Don H. Castleberry
Regional Director,
Midwest Region

Jim Coleman
Regional Director,
Southeast Region

Lauretta L. Mintzmyer
Regional Director,
Mid-Atlantic Region

Jack Morehead
Regional Director,
Alaska Region

John E. Cook
Associate Director, NPS

John H. "Jack" Davis
Associate Director, NPS

Rick Smith
Associate Regional Director,
Southwest Region

Bill Wade
Superintendent,
Shenandoah National Park

Mike Finley
Superintendent,
Yellowstone National Park

Rick Gale
Chief of Fire, Aviation and Emergency Response, NPS

Reginald Hagood
Chief of Training Division, NPS

Roland H. "Ro" Wauer
Chief of Natural Resources, NPS

Loretta Neumann
Chief, Branch of Internal Communications, NPS

Bill Everhart
Assistant Director,
Education and Interpretation, NPS

Marc Sagan
Manager,
Harpers Ferry Center, NPS

Anthony J. Bonanno
Regional Chief Ranger,
Intermountain Region

Ann Belkov
Superintendent,
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Bill Brown
Park Historian,
Denali National Park

Larry Hakel
Chief Park Ranger,
Shenandoah National Park

James S. Rouse
Superintendent,
Crater Lake National Park

Rock Comstock
Chief, Interpretation and Visitor Services,
National Capital Region

Georgia A. Ellard
Superintendent,
Rock Creek Park

Roger Rudolph
Assistant Superintendent,
Olympic National Park

Donna J. Donaldson
Chief, Visitor Services,
National Capital Park Central

William R. Failor
Chief of Interpretation,
National Capital Region

Cleve Pinnix
National Park Ranger,
Mount Rainier National Park

Charles "Butch" Farabee Superintendent,
Padre Island National Seashore

Bill Tanner
Regional Chief Ranger, Southwest Region

George E. Buckingham
Chief Ranger,
Crater Lake National Park

P.J. Ryan
Historian,
John Muir National Historical Site

Tim J. Setnicka
Superintendent,
Channel Islands National Park

Owen Hoffman, Ph.D.
Park Ranger-Naturalist,
Crater Lake National Park

John Lancaster
Superintendent,
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Roger J. Siglin
Superintendent,
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve

Jim Brady
Superintendent,
Glacier Bay National Park

Jim Carrico
Superintendent,
Big Bend National Park

Douglas B. Evans
Regional Chief of Interpretation, Southwest Region

James R. Zinck
Superintendent,
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park

Charles B. Sigler
Chief Ranger,
Glacier National Park

Phillip A. Young
Regional Special Agent, Southwest/Intermountain Regional Office

Vincent J. Halvorson
Superintendent,
Pipestone National Monument
Donald H. Weir, Ph.D.
Chief Ranger,
Fire Island National Seashore

Don Field, Ph.D.
Associate Regional Director for Science, Pacific Northwest Region

Tom D. Thomas
Education Consultant,
International Affairs Office, NPS

Stuart L. Croll
Chief Ranger,
Isle Royale National Park

Reed W. Jarvis
Regional Chief Ranger,
Pacific Northwest Region

Art Allen
Assistant Superintendent,
Blue Ridge Parkway

Ed Gastellum
Assistant Superintendent,
North Cascades National Park Service Complex

John F. Chapman
Assistant Superintendent,
Rocky Mountain National Park

William W. Dunmire
Chief of Interpretation, NPS

Glenn Clark
Servicewide Coordinator for National Park Service Cooperating
Associations, NPS

Robert O. Binnewies
Superintendent,
Yosemite National Park

Paul D. Guraedy
Superintendent,
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve

Jay Wells
Regional Chief Ranger,
Pacific West Region

George Gowans
Chief Engineer, NPS

Bob Haraden
Superintendent,
Glacier National Park

Ben Moffett
Assistant to the Regional Director for Public Affairs,
Rocky Mountain Field Office

Don Gillespie
Utah State Director, NPS

Boyd Finch
Associate Regional Director,
Southeast Region

William M. Lukens
Superintendent,
Padre Island National Seashore

David Haskell
Science Center Director,
Grand Canyon National Park

Fred J. Fagergren
Superintendent,
Bryce Canyon National Park

DJ Bishop
Regional Equal Opportunity Manager,
Rocky Mountain Region/Denver Service
Center

Denny Huffman
Superintendent,
Dinosaur National Monument

Robert E. Sellers
Fire Management Specialist,
National Interagency Fire Center

Robert D. Dunnagan
Assistant Superintendent,
Mount Rainier National Park

William Herr
Superintendent,
Golden Spike National Historic Site

Neal G. Guse
Superintendent,
Mount Rainier National Park

Alan Atchison
Chief Park Ranger,
Grand Teton National Park

Ben Zerbey
Assistant Regional Director,
Rocky Mountain Region

Barry Cooper
Superintendent,
Aztec Ruins National Monument

David Morris
Superintendent,
Olympic National Park

David E. Moore
Superintendent,
Joshua Tree National Monument

Cy Hentges
Superintendent,
Craters of the Moon National Monument

Gerry Tays
Superintendent,
Coulee Dam NRA
(now Lake Roosevelt NRA)

Andy Ringgold
Superintendent,
Redwood National and State Parks

Thomas Munson
Superintendent,
Effigy Mounds National Monument

Larry Henderson
Superintendent,
Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Richard Marks
Superintendent,
Grand Canyon National Park

Ross R. Hopkins
Superintendent,
Manzanar National Historic Site

Arthur H. White
General Superintendent,
Navajo Lands Group

Len McKenzie
Deputy Superintendent,
Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Neil "Jim" Reid
Regional Chief Scientist,
Rocky Mountain Regional Office

Philip W. Ward
Associate Regional Director, Operations, Western Region

Don Roush
Chief, Division of Concessions Management,
National Capitol Region

Robert Yearout
Concession Program Manager, NPS

Tom Thompson
Regional Chief Ranger,
Midwest Region

John Guthrie
Associate Regional Director, Management and Operations,
North Atlantic Region

Helen Dionne
Administrative Officer,
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Richard Strait
Associate Regional Director,
Planning & Resource Preservation,
Rocky Mountain Region

Tom Griffiths
Assistant Superintendent,
Ozark National Scenic Riverway

Bill Binnewies
Superintendent,
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

Sandra Alley
Associate Regional Director for
Public Affairs,
National Capital Region

Caleb Cooper
Deputy Assistant Director,
Denver Service Center Operations

George Berklacy
Chief of Public Affairs, NPS

Willian H. Ehorn
Superintendent,
Redwood National Park

Nancy F. Ehorn
Assistant Superintendent,
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Tom Ritter
Superintendent,
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

C. Mack Shaver
Superintendent,
Channel Islands National Park

Raymond Gunn
Chief, Concession Program Management,
Grand Canyon National Park

Steve Holder
Fire Management Specialist,
National Interagency Fire Center

Ron Mackie
Wilderness Manager,
Yosemite National Park

David L. Moffitt,
Assistant Director, Visitor Services, NPS

Bruce Black
Assistant Superintendent,
Natchez Trace Parkway

Gordon V. Gay
Chief of Interpretation,
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Warren Bielenberg
Regional Chief of Interpretation, Midwest Region

Frederick Angell
Supervisory Civil Engineer, Facilities and Maintenance,
Western Region
Robert Cunningham
General Superintendent,
Southern Arizona Group

Rich Rambur
Superintendent,
Lowell National Historical Park

Jim Mack
Superintendent,
White Sands National Monument

Bill Fields
Chief, Indian Assistance Programs, NPS

Marvin Jensen
Assistant Superintendent,
Yellowstone National Park

Donald A. Dayton
Deputy Regional Director
Southwest Region

Bob Reynolds
Superintendent,
Outer Banks Group (Cape Hatteras NS, Cape Lookout NS, Wright
Brothers NMem, Fort Raleigh NHS)

Wally Wallis
Regional Chief Scientist
Western Region

Deryl B. Stone
Chief Park Ranger
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

Mike Maule
Regional Resource Manager
Mid-Atlantic Region

Betty McSwain
Chief of Interpretation and Resource Management
Pipestone National Monument

Dale C. Thompson
Chief of Interpretation
Mount Rainier National Park

Jim Randall
Superintendent
Wind Cave National Park and
Jewel Cave National Monument

Paul Haertel
Superintendent,
Acadia National Park

Mario Fraire
Chief Personnel Officer, NPS

Jim Fox
Assistant Chief Park Ranger,

************** NATIVE PLANT CONSERVATION CAMPAIGN NEWS **************

Denver Post
October 20, 2003
Guest commentary

O, beautiful, for spacious, smoggy skies
By Bill Wade
Tucson Ariz


Sunday, August 31, 2003 - Last week, our nation celebrated the 87th
anniversary of the founding of "the best idea America ever had" - the
creation of the National Park Service. It was a bittersweet day for
those of us who devoted our careers to protecting our parks. The
policies and actions of the Bush administration towards our parks
threaten to damage them forever. One such policy, called Clear Skies,
imperils the very air that families breathe while visiting these natural
treasures.

I grew up in Mesa Verde National Park, the son of a ranger who spent his
entire career in that park. As a second-generation employee of the
National Park Service, I spent the final nine years of a 34-year career
as superintendent of Shenandoah National Park.

Like many other career employees of the Park Service, I viewed my job as
totally nonpartisan. I was there to carry out the mission of the Park
Service - to conserve the parks and objects therein, and provide a
quality visitor experience.

During my time at Shenandoah, I devoted much of my time and energy to
air-quality issues, since the emissions of older and dirty power plants
located "upwind" significantly affected the park. I recall times when
visitors could not see the valley floor on either side of Skyline Drive
and the rainfall had the pH equivalent of vinegar.

I became very familiar with the 1978 Clean Air Act, which established
all national parks as Class I areas, where the air quality should remain
pristine and no significant deterioration of air quality should be
allowed to occur.

Not long after I arrived in Shenandoah, there were unprecedented
applications for permits for small, coal-fired power plants in Virginia.
Under the Clean Air Act, I had the authority as a federal land manager
to review new applications and upgrades to existing plants to provide
evidence on how emissions from these plants would negatively affect
visibility and natural resources within the park. The Park Service has
the scientific ability to analyze and model pollution effects in sources
more than 200 miles away from parks. Thanks to this excellent scientific
data, we were able to modify the terms of many of those permits and even
eliminate one of the power plants slated to be built near the boundary
of the park.

There may still be bad air days and high acid-rain depositions in
Shenandoah, but there are fewer and the Clean Air Act made all the
difference.

In stark contrast, President Bush's Clear Skies initiative will
substantially weaken the Clean Air Act. National emissions standards and
technology requirements would be significantly less strict than what new
applications meet today. The current law forced technology improvements
resulting in significantly greater pollution control - improvements that
would be effectively minimized under Clear Skies. Most critically, any
source that proposes to construct a new plant or increase emissions at
an existing one would be exempted from pre-construction review
requirements, such as air-quality impact analysis, technology review,
consultation with federal land managers and public review, unless they
are located within 31 miles of a Class I area.

Had these provisions been in effect in Shenandoah at the time I was
there, I would have been unable to use the scientific data we had to
influence power-plant permits. As a result, pollution would be
considerably worse today, not better.

I'm afraid that under the Bush administration plan, many parks are
destined to experience deterioration in air quality. It doesn't take a
rocket scientist to figure out where new sources will locate - outside
the 31-mile radius, to avoid rigorous reviews. It doesn't take a rocket
scientist to figure out that the emissions standards allowed by Clear
Skies are less stringent than many current sources have attained.

The result? Our nation's natural heritage - my beloved Shenandoah
National Park and Mesa Verde National Park among them - will likely
experience a decline in air quality and visibility. All of which
translates to a corresponding decline in the health of the parks"
natural resources and ultimately a decline in visitor experience - the
very values and benefits that the parks are required by law to provide.

This administration demonstrates little interest in the country's
natural resources - indeed, it shows disdain for them. Those who love
the purposes and values of the national park idea, or even those who
just love to visit parks, must reclaim some of the responsibility for
determining whose job it is to conserve America's legacy. Please engage
in that debate before it is too late.

A second-generation, 34-year National Park Service careerist, Bill Wade
was reared in Mesa Verde National Park, where his father spent nearly
his entire career as chief park ranger. He lives in Tucson, Ariz.

_____________________
Emily B. Roberson, Ph.D.
Director
Native Plant Conservation Campaign
*NEW ADDRESS*
2707 K Street, Suite 1
Sacramento 95816

Phone: 415 970 0394
E-MAIL: EMILYR@cnps.org
Web: http://www.cnps.org/NPCC

The mission of the NPCC is to promote appreciation and conservation of
native plant species and communities through collaboration, education,
law, policy, land use and management.

The NPCC is a project of the Center for Biological Diversity and the
California Native Plant Society.