Enforced Environmental Lying

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BUSHGREENWATCH

Tracking the Bush Administration's Environmental Misdeeds

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June 29, 2004

 

BUSH ADMINISTRATION SQUELCHES BAD NEWS ON PARKS

 

Candidate George W. Bush made two promises on the environment

when he ran for President in 2000: he would regulate carbon

dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, and he would close the $5

billion maintenance backlog for our national parks. It took

President George W. Bush a mere 53 days to break his promise on

reducing greenhouse gases. [1] And to the dismay of

environmentalists and career park officials alike, America's

national parks have been steadily deteriorating since the

President took office.

 

To deter public awareness of his national parks reversal, it

appears the President has imposed a gag rule on park managers to

prevent them from disclosing just how underfunded the parks have

become. Since 1998 the Park Service has been collaborating with

the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), a nonprofit

advocacy group, to create business plans for the country's

parks. With federal funding, NPCA and the Park Service recruited

graduate students from the country's top business schools to

identify funding problems and develop management solutions for

the parks. The 64 reports produced so far portray a Park Service

woefully short of money, with most parks showing annual budget

shortfalls of around 30 percent.

 

This information has apparently not been sitting comfortably

with the administration. The business plan for Olympic National

Park in Washington, for example, was kept from the public after

it found that funding shortages were crippling the park. The

report found that Olympic, which had 3.2 million visitors last

year, receives only about half the money it needs. The

Washington Post last week quoted a Park Service official, who

spoke anonymously out of fear of retaliation, as saying that the

report was withheld because the Bush administration " ...doesn't

like bad news. They don't like to see or hear about it or fix

it. And they punish the messenger. "

 

Ron Tipton, senior vice president for programs at NPCA, told

BushGreenwatch, " It's really regrettable that the Department of

Interior appears to be uncomfortable with full public disclosure

of the results of these business plans. The public and key

decision-makers need this information to assure the parks are

adequately funded and staffed so their visitors have a high

quality experience. "

 

The superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park was

forced to cancel a scheduled press conference to announce that

park's business plan, which showed budget shortfalls. The plan

was later made public on the park's web site. The press

conference was canceled, according to a Park Service spokesman,

not to hide the plan but because NPCA " might go out there and

say a lot of things that our superintendents aren't comfortable

saying. "

 

Apparently, however, it appears to be the Park Service's

political appointees who are uncomfortable. To solve the problem

of reports informing the public of chronic underfunding, the

Park Service has canceled its partnership with NPCA. As NPCA's

Tipton explained to the Post: " We were not seen as a friendly

voice. "

 

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SOURCES:

[1] " Environmental Reversal, " Online Newshour, PBS, Mar. 14,

2001.

 

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I think wholeness comes from living you life consciously during the day

and then exploring your inner life or unconscious at night.

 

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