Remember this when Bush accuses Kerry of not understanding the West. mjh

National parks need help DenverPost.com – EDITORIAL

America’s national parks groan from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance. On that point, the Bush administration and environmental groups agree. What they don’t agree on is whether the situation is worsening or improving.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton says the parks will get $4.9 billion by 2006 to help reduce the maintenance backlog.

The National Parks Conservation Association, a leading interest group on the issue, says the increase is smoke and mirrors. Most of the money isn’t new but was diverted from other projects, NPCA says. The real increase will be about $662 million and help just a handful of the country’s 388 parks, monuments, recreation areas and historic sites.

The NPCA’s analysis has become campaign fodder not only because of President Bush’s overall environmental record. When he ran for office and in his 2001 State of the Union address, Bush promised to fix what ails the national parks. Four years ago, the backlog was a little over $1 billion; today estimates range up to $6 billion. …

The Interior Department is trapped by the same fiscal vise gripping most federal domestic programs. Huge tax cuts and military operations in Iraq added billions to the deficit, and many programs took big hits – including adequate funding for national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands.