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National Parks Conservation Association
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Privatization Imperils National Parks, Says National Parks
Conservation Association
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| WASHINGTON
- May 20
- Following is a statement
by Ronald J. Tipton, senior vice president, programs, National
Parks Conservation Association, on the Bush administration's
privatization plan for the National Park Service:
The Bush administration's privatization plan for the National
Park Service will neither benefit our treasured national parks nor
improve NPS efficiency or effectiveness. And it is not designed
with the type of quality control and oversight that a private
enterprise would demand when making a similar decision. Instead, it
could result in the dismantling of an institution acclaimed by the
American public as the guardian of our natural and cultural
heritage.
National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella has warned that
privatization could have a substantial negative effect on the
diversity of the Park Service workforce, on the experience of
Americans who visit the parks, on the Park Service budget and on
the taxpayers who must pay millions to "study" jobs for
privatization. Finding the necessary funding to study Park Service
jobs for privatization will even reduce the availability of
seasonal rangers who serve the American public every summer.
In times like these, when Americans are trying to reconnect with
the history that our national parks preserve, we should not simply
discard historians, archaeologists, museum curators, interpreters,
maintenance workers, and architects and place their
responsibilities in the hands of the lowest bidder. Decisions to
outsource any position at a national park should be primarily the
prerogative of the park superintendent and should be based only on
the best interests of the parks themselves.
For the sake of our national treasures, the Park Service should
be exempt from participation in the new privatization mandate. This
is important to ensure the quality of visitors' experience, and to
protect the parks themselves for future generations.
NPCA-Protecting Parks for Future Generations(r)
Founded in 1919, the National Parks Conservation Association is
America's only private, nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated
solely to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the National Park
System. Today, NPCA has more than 300,000 members. A library of
national park information, including fact sheets, congressional
testimony, position statements, and press releases, can be found on
NPCA's Web site at http://www.eparks.org/media_center.
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