Centennial Challenge hopes to show that National Parks deserve priority status

Date published: 11/21/2006

Parks in peril

As a nation, let's gladly acceptthe 'Centennial Challenge'

RECENT LETTERS from Congress members to President Bush recall Mission 66, a successful initiative launched by Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 to reclaim a deteriorating national park system. That high-minded undertaking culminated in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the National Park Service.

Now, 50 years after Ike's proclamation, the troubled National Park Service is once again the target of a bold reclamation effort--the Centennial Challenge--to rescue it from years of governmental neglect. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, at President Bush's behest, wants this goal achieved by 2016, the Park Service's 100th birthday. Backing the program is the National Parks Conservation Association, whose slogan, "It's not like we can make new ones," puts the parks' plight into perspective.

"It's up to us to restore the faded glory of our National Park System before it is too late," says Tom Kiernan, the advocacy group's president. "Our national heritage is imperiled."

In 1956, Eisenhower put the parks-reclamation tab at $1 billion--when $1 billion was real money. The question now is whether Mr. Bush is ready to similarly follow through. Citing the administration's endorsement of the Centennial Challenge, a bipartisan group of 143 senators and House members has asked the president to "include a considerable increase in the National Park Service budget" to help cure a chronic shortfall in Park Service funding.

Evidence of the chintzy approach abounds. Many parks have cut hours because of staffing deficiencies; when the facilities are open, visitor centers and bathrooms often are closed, laments the NPCA. Water and sewer systems are failing, prompting reports of sewage-borne pollution in park waterways. Invasive animals, plants, and diseases vex 96 percent of parks, while development crowds 79 percent. Finally, smog shrouds more than three parks in 10, including Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, where average annual visibility at scenic overlooks has fallen from about 115 miles to fewer than 25. What's more, Shenandoah no longer has an air-quality specialist to keep tabs on pollution levels, says the conservation group.

Given a federal government awash in red ink, conservation and environmental spending admittedly are tough sells. Like the mission to save the Chesapeake Bay, to which Washington has been a tepid contributor, preserving the parks probably will require significant private funding.

Alas, when Washington relegates the upkeep of its natural treasures to the "maybe next year" list, it is only reflecting the priorities of the nation's electorate. Polling finds that while Americans profess concern about the environment, most vote largely because of other issues. Of course, a habit of procrastination regarding things green only inflates future recovery costs. Will Americans eventually come to accept parks that are closed or unkempt? A sad day it will be when national parks lose their favored-destination status.

If our national parks are as important to us as we claim--and as important as they were to Republican presidents such as Teddy Roosevelt and Eisenhower--Mr. Bush should meet the Centennial Challenge. A generous funding increase would benefit his legacy and, more important, all Americans' heritage.

Date published: 11/21/2006