Copyright 1999 Federal News Service, Inc.
Federal News Service
MARCH 17, 1999, WEDNESDAY
SECTION: IN THE NEWS
LENGTH:
5053 words
HEADLINE: PREPARED STATEMENT BY
ROBERT
G. STANTON
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
BEFORE THE
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
INTERIOR SUBCOMMITTEE
SUBJECT - CONSIDERING THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR
2000
BODY:
Mr. Chairman, and members of the
Subcommittee, I welcome the opportunity to appear before you to discuss the
fiscal year 2000 budget request of the National Park Service.
OVERVIEW
The fiscal year 2000 budget request of $2.059 billion in appropriated funds
for the National Park Service reflects a $305 million net increase above the
fiscal year 1999 enacted level. This budget supports the mission and related
goals as expressed in the 1916 Organic Act, the National Park Service Strategic
Plan, and the FY 2000 Annual Performance Plan. The proposed level of funding
will enable the Park Service to meet our stewardship responsibilities for the
protection and preservation of resources entrusted to the agency, and will allow
an enhanced level of service to an estimated 290 million visitors annually to
the national parks. It will allow us to seek mutually beneficial and innovative
partnership arrangements to assist us in carrying out our many responsibilities
both inside and outside the National Park System. Through this request, we will
continue our ongoing commitment to invest in the parks to further protect and
enrich the resources we convey to the next generation.
Before discussing the
details of the fiscal year 2000 budget, I want to mention the progress being
made to implement the recommendations of the National Academy of Public
Administration (NAPA) report regarding our construction program and the
subsequent direction of this committee on implementing that report. To highlight
our progress:
- 90% of the fiscal year 1999 planning program will be
accomplished by contract.
- All supervision for fiscal year 1999 line item
construction projects will be accomplished via contract.
- The staff of the
Denver Service Center has been dramatically reduced, standing today at 295, down
from a level of about 500 just a year ago. Before the year is out, the Service
Center will be at the prescribed level of 260 employees.
- The Service
Center is evolving from a design center to an organization that manages
planning, design, construction and construction management contracts.
- A
training course is under development that will prepare the park superintendents
to assume more direct control over projects in their parks.
Further, the
fiscal year 2000 budget has been formulated to reflect the direction of this
Committee. The Denver Service Center is base funded at the level of $16.1
million; the level agreed to in the Service's response to the NAPA report and
the level provided in the fiscal year 1999 appropriation. Also, our request
limits construction design funds to 10% of the construction amount and also
limits the funds available for supervision and contingencies to 8% and 10% of
the construction amount, respectively.
Mr. Chairman, we are pleased with the
budget request you are about to review. The President's millennium year budget
for the National Park Service focuses on a number of areas that we consider key
to protecting the national parks. While continuing to address deficiencies in
park infrastructure to ensure the health and safety of park employees and
visitors and enhance visitor services to improve the quality of park experience
by the many local, national, and international users, we feel it is imperative
to begin a comprehensive natural resource management effort aimed at effectively
preserving and protecting parks as a legacy for future generations. We also seek
to expand our partnership opportunities to allow even broader protection of park
resources, and to improve access to parks through the availability of new
technology and non-traditional means of access.
Since becoming Director of
the National Park Service, I have emphasized the need to give more attention to
our nation's irreplaceable natural resources. To achieve our mission in today's
changing landscape, the NPS must embark on an unprecedented re- examination of
our role in nature preservation in America. Parks today are no longer isolated,
and are increasingly crowded and often impaired remnants of primitive America in
a fragmented landscape. They are threatened by invasions of exotic species,
pollution from near and far, and incompatible uses around, and even in, the
parks themselves. Yet parks are still the best hope for preserving the genetic
and biological diversity of America. The national parks are the best places for
Americans to learn about our natural heritage and the way nature functions,
while remaining the places where Americans enjoy themselves on vacation. The
fiscal year 2000 budget marks the first step in a 5-year effort to enhance
significantly our capacity to manage park natural resources - to address more of
the pressing resource issues that trouble park managers, including exotic
species invasions and restoration of degraded lands. We are accelerating
biological and physical resource inventories (including assessment of amphibian
populations in parks), native and exotic species management efforts, and
increasing funds to address our backlog in natural resources projects. To do
these tasks we will enlist our friends in the US Geological Survey and other
agencies, universities, gateway communities, and the public in a new
partnership. That combined effort will result in a vastly increased
understanding of the extent, condition, and context of the natural resources
within America's parks. That understanding will not only enhance our own ability
to manage and protect these places, it will make the parks centers of life-long
learning about natural resources and stewardship that will enhance the quality
of American lives.
This request includes several major efforts to achieve
our goals: In addition to the enhanced natural resources program, the budget
continues to build on this Subcommittee's emphasis to improve the infrastructure
of the national parks and address health and safety deficiencies; a new Lands
Legacy program is also proposed that will expand Federal, State, Tribal and
local government efforts to protect America's public land resources. To
compliment our work in parks, the Administration strongly supports work on
facilities at historically black colleges and universities, as well as
preservation work on our most significant historic places through Save America's
Treasures millennium grants and a new National Historic Landmarks grants
program.
The Administration maintains its strong commitment to parks through
the $715 million request for the ongoing facilities restoration initiative. This
effort includes the budget requests for the Construction and Major Maintenance
and Historic Preservation Fund appropriations, as well as the Facility
Operations and Maintenance component of the our major operating account,
Operation of the National Park System. Mr. Chairman, we are confident that this
effort will improve the visual quality of the parks, ensure that park visitors
and employees are afforded safe environments in which to visit and work, and
contribute greatly to enhanced confidence and trust by the public in our ability
to perform satisfactorily our entrusted responsibilities.
Also, Mr.
Chairman, the Lands Legacy initiative proposed by the
Administration will have significant impact on the American landscape. The $1.0
billion program has been characterized as "the largest one- year investment ever
in the protection of America's land resources." This program will be funded
through receipts from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and focuses on
providing partnership support that will strengthen public land protection
programs at the Federal, State, Tribal and local government levels. The $376.5
million proposed for the National Park Service portion of Lands Legacy is
requested in three accounts: $172,5 million in the Land Acquisition and State
Assistance appropriation, $200 million in a new Conservation Grants and Planning
Assistance appropriation, and $4.0 million in the Urban Park and Recreation Fund
appropriation.
In the midst of these efforts, we must also continue to
provide adequate operational funding for our parks. The budget request includes
additional resources to restore and sustain services to the visiting public
through park operations. The Service's budget for fiscal year 2000 requests a
$25 million increase for operating needs at 90 parks, two national historic
trails, and U.S. Park Police operations. This funding will be used to provide
needed expertise to address threats to park resources; support an initiative
that focuses on preservation, protection and restoration of United States coral
reef ecosystems; provide enhancements for operations at urban parks, including
United States Park Police operations; boost funding to parks that have acquired
new and special operational responsibilities; and upgrade preventative
maintenance programs to protect the recent Federal investment in facility
rehabilitation.To move forward in meeting our natural resource goals, the
Service is proposing increased funding totaling $19.8 million for enhancements
in the protection of park natural resources. This proposal will commit the
resources and expertise directly to parks to ensure that managers have the best
possible information to use in protecting and preserving parks. Included in the
total are increases of $8.0 million to accelerate the basic inventory and
monitoring of resources at parks; $4.0 million for native and exotic species
management to allow the Service to achieve long-term goals related to exotics
control and the recovery of threatened and endangered species; $3.5 million
within the Natural Resource Preservation Program to boost the number of projects
undertaken each year; $2.021 million for California Desert parks to develop a
desertwide database of disturbed lands and begin restoration of the California
Desert; $1.5 million to implement the Resource Protection Act to enable the Park
Service to recover damages to property and resources; and $735,000 to provide
expertise to support over 160 NPS units that have significant geologic
resources.
I would like to take this opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to relate
our request to that of the U.S. Geological Survey, which is also funded in this
Committee. The National Park Service is constantly in need of high quality
scientific information for the effective management of parks and their
associated resources. The USGS is our prime source for science information and I
have worked closely with USGS to identify Park Service needs in their FY 2000
budget request. Within the USGS $15 million science increase for DOI land
management bureau priorities, the Park Service has identified specific
scientific needs. Similar to the other resource management agencies, the NPS is
often facith issues that require a quick technical solution. Accordingly, I have
asked the USGS to include, within this initiative, a $3 million increase to
their Natural Resource Preservation Program. This increase would permit more
tactical research to address urgent and often critical problems and augment the
Service's other natural resource increase requests. In addition, the USGS is
requesting $1 million in coral reef research that would complement our coral
reef proposal of $1.6 million for parks.
To enhance the Service's cultural
heritage resources, our budget proposes an additional $9.3 million. The
increases include a request of $5.0 million to begin an exciting new program,
"America's Treasures Online," that we envision will broaden public access to NPS
collections and provide the public with a new resource for learning through the
Internet; $1.5 million for the Cultural Resources Preservation Program to
increase the number of projects that can be completed each year; $1.0 million
for the Collections Management Program to accelerate museum collections
cataloging; $800,000 to conduct theme studies to identify and document sites
associated with Asian, Hispanic, African American and other cultural groups
whose contributions to American history have not been adequately reflected by
national historic landmark designations and National Register of Historic Places
listings; and $994,000 for Vanishing Treasures to continue funding support for
the preservation of prehistoric and historic sites in the desert southwest.
The last highlight ( would like to mention is our proposal to increase
funding for what we are terming "Partners for Parks." This funding will be used
to engage new communities and new portions of the public - such as older
Americans - in the protection and preservation of parks. These efforts include
an additional $2.0 million for the Challenge Cost-share program to leverage
non-Federal funds and inkind services for competitive projects in units of the
National Park System; $1.0 million for a Partners for Parks program that will
provide program coordination and training to help individual parks pursue
greater use of cooperative agreements and partnerships; $1.0 million for the
Volunteer-in-Parks program to boost the number of volunteers and volunteer hours
in parks; and $981,000 for a Humanity for Habitat program to engage our senior
citizens in the protection and preservation of parks.
The fiscal year 2000
budget request of the National Park Service, by appropriation, is further
summarized below:
Operation of the National Park System
The FY 2000 NPS
budget would provide $1.390 billion for the Operation of the National Park
System appropriation, an increase of $101.7 million above the FY 1999 enacted
for this account. The funding request would provide an additional $96.3 million
within the Park Management activity to enhance operations, and an increase of
$5.397 million within the External Administrative Costs activity to accommodate
a variety of adjustments, including a GSA rate increase for space rental,
employee compensation payments, and U.S. Park Police pension costs.
Paramount among the increases is a proposal for an additional $25 million
for park specific operations. The funding will be used to address five broad
categories of need. The total of amounts shown by category exceed $25 million
due to some of the increases falling into more than one category:- $8.29 million
at 39 parks for technical expertise to address threats to park resources such as
at Carlsbad Caverns National Park where funding would be used to support
resource protection efforts to reduce vandalism, increase restorations of cave
features, and reduce contaminant infiltration into the cave resource;
- $1.6
million for a coral reef initiative that will focus on activities required to
implement Executive Order 13089 (Coral Reef Protection), for the preservation,
protection, and restoration of United States coral reef ecosystems at nine
coastal parks including Biscayne National Park where funding will be used to
allow comprehensive baseline monitoring of coral reef conditions; 52 million for
28 urban parks to address shortfalls due to increased demand for services, such
as at Boston African American National Historic Site where funding will be used
to enable interpretation and maintenance at the Abiel Smith School and the
African Meeting House and educational programs at the Museum ofn-American
History;
- $9.268 million for 42 parks that have acquired special or new
operational responsibilities, such as providing additional operating funds to
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park to permit preservation and
maintenance of 15 restored historic buildings and a vast artifact collection;
and
- $6.079 million for ongoing maintenance needs at 41 parks to complement
and support the "Safe Visits to Public Lands" initiative, such as at Buffalo
National River where funding will be used to mitigate hazards and damage to 140
miles of park. The budget also provides $19.756 million for a Natural Resource
Initiative which is intended to draw together the people, plans, public support
and funds necessary to protect parks in the challenging climate of the future.
Parks today are threatened by invasions of alien species, pollution, and
incompatible uses. With this increase, the NPS would begin the necessary
challenge of revitalizing natural resources management in the National Park
Service. Previously itemized increases include $8.0 million within the inventory
and monitoring program; $4.0 million for native and exotic species management;
$3.5 million which will be used to provide a substantial increase to general
funding of the Natural Resource Preservation Program; $2.021 million for
critical restoration needs at California Desert parks; $1.5 million to allow
fuller implementation of the Resource Protection Act; and $735,000 for geologic
expertise.
For continued support of the "Safe Visits to Public Lands"
initiative, fast proposed in FY 1999, the NPS is requesting an increase of $12.5
million for specific Facility Operations and Maintenance requirements. Of the
total increase, $5.0 million will be provided to the Repair and Rehabilitation
program to address the highest priority health and safety projects that were
identified and ranked as part of the Department's 5-year plan; $4.0 million will
be provided to the Cyclic Maintenance program to assist the Service in
preventing the deterioration of facilities; $2.5 million will be used to begin
the systematic collection of detailed, comprehensive inventory and condition
assessment data on critical National Park System assets and to identify those in
poor condition; and $1.0 million will allow the National Park Service to develop
and implement a maintenance management system in concert with the Department's
initiative to standardize facility management, repair and construction
information.
Increases of $8.494 million within the Resource Stewardship
activity for cultural resources management activities will allow the NPS to
address expanded needs in cultural heritage preservation. Included are $5.0
million for the Internet oriented "America's Treasures Online; an additional
$1.5 million for the Cultural Resources Preservation Program; an increase of
$1.0 million to accelerate object and artifact cataloging within the collections
management program; and an additional $994,000 to provide continued support of
the Vanishing Treasures initiative.
Other operational increases requested
include $2.0 million for the successful Challenge Cost Share Program; $1.0
million for a Partners for Parks Program to leverage Federal investment; $1.981
to bring the Volunteers-in-Parks Program to its full authorized funding level
(including $981,000 for a new Humanity for Habitat Program); $5.7 million for
administrative systems upgrades and integration; $800,000 for aircraft
overflight management; $500,000 for conservation education which will support
the translation of technical natural resource data into a variety of
understandable media for effective presentation to the public; $49%000 for needs
associated with the South Florida Task Force; $150,000 for a Rails & Trails
Program that will provide educational opportunities for rail passengers that
foster an appreciation of a region's natural and cultural heritage; and $150,000
for continuity of operations planning that will ensure the continuity of
essential functions in the event of emergencies.National Recreation and
Preservation
The fiscal year 2000 request for the National Recreation and
Preservation appropriation is $48.336 million which represents a net increase of
$2.1 million over the FY 1999 enacted level. This budget will enable expanded
partnership opportunities. Several programmatic changes are proposed for the
Natural Programs activity. These include increases of $285,000 for a new
hydropower recreation assistance program and an additional $3.250 million for
the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, $1.250 million of which
is for Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails assistance. The Cultural Programs
activity includes a proposed increase of $800,000 for National Historic Landmark
Theme Studies and the International Park Affairs activity requests an additional
$150,000 for International Protected Areas Leadership Training. The Heritage
Partnership Programs is enhanced by $250,000 for grants. Offsetting these
increases are a series of programmatic decreases within the Statutory or
Contractual Aid activity totaling $2.808 million.
Historic Preservation Fund
The Service's fiscal year 2000 budget provides $80.512 million for the
Historic Preservation Fund, which reflects a net increase of $8.1 million over
the 1999 enacted level. Within the Grants-in-AM activity, the $8.1 million
program change is summarized as follows: grants to States and Territories would
be continued at the FY 1999 enacted level of $31.394 million; grants to Indian
Tribes is proposed to remain at the FY 1999 enacted level of $2.596 million;
grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities would receive an increase
of $6.6 million for a $15.022 million program total to provide partnership
support to these institutions on a 1:1 matching basis for rehabilitation and
restoration; and grants to Threatened and Endangered National Historic Landmarks
would be funded at $1,5 million (this program was proposed, but not funded in FY
1999). Additionally, this budget continues funding of the Grants-in-Aid to Save
America's Treasures at $30.0 million, unchanged from FY 1999.
Construction
and Major Maintenance
The NPS budget for fiscal year 2000 requests $194
million for the Construction and Major Maintenance appropriation, a decrease of
$35.738 million below the 1999 enacted level. In fiscal year 2000, the
Administration is proposing a restructuring of the budget presentation in
accordance with the direction provided in the NAPA report and by this Committee.
The new structure provides for a Construction and Major Maintenance
appropriation with six primary activities: (I) Line Item Construction and
Maintenance, (2) Special Programs (which includes Emergency and Unscheduled
projects, Housing, Dam Safety, Demolition, and Equipment Replacement), (3)
Construction Planning, (4) Pre-Design and Supplementary Services, (5)
Construction Program Management and Operations, and (6) General Management
Planning.
Within the total for this account, the budge( provides $118.175
million for 36 Line Item Construction and Maintenance projects in 35 national
park areas that will allow for the completion or continuation of ongoing project
work, address critical health and safety requirements, and provide for
essential/critical resource protection. The central focus of the NPS line item
construction and maintenance request continues to be facility improvement,
utility repair, and cultural and natural resources preservation.
A total of
$35.305 million is requested for Special Programs. This activity includes an
increase of $1.0 million to implement a multiyear seismic safety plan needed to
correct structural deficiencies in high- risk seismic areas and to minimize
seismic risk to NPS properties; a $10.0 million program for housing replacement,
reflecting a decrease of $2.0 million from FY 1999; $1.440 million for the dam
safety program; $19.865 million for equipment replacement including an increase
of $3.0 million for modernization of information management equipment (funded as
part of the governmentwide Y2K effort in FY 1999); and $1.463 million for new
radio technology in order to meet the established schedule for conversion to the
new radio frequencies as required by legislation.
A $10.195 million program
is proposed for Construction Planning reflecting a decrease of $6.175 million
which complies with a recommendation from the NAPA study of the NPS construction
program that specified that construction planning not exceed 10 percent of the
final construction cost for each construction project. A total of $4.5 million
is proposed for Pre-design and Supplementary Services; $17.1 million is
requested for Construction Program Management and Operations, including $16.1
million to base fund operations at the Denver Service Center; and $8.725 million
is proposed for General Management Planning, reflecting a $1.0 million increase
over last year to cover increased costs for special projects directed by
Congress.
Land Acquisition and State Assistance
This budget provides
$172.468 million for the Land Acquisition and State Assistance appropriation,
which reflects an increase of $24.543 million over the fiscal year 1999 enacted
level for this account. No funding is requested for Land and Water Conservation
Fund State grants (last funded in 1995), although the budget revives this
program through the new Conservation grants and Planning Assistance
appropriation, as noted below. The budget proposes $1.0 million for State Grants
Administration to provide continued monitoring and other responsibilities
associated with oversight of previously awarded grants; this level represents an
increase of $500,000 from the amount enacted in fiscal year 1999.
Included
in the $171.468 million request for the Federal Land Acquisition program is
$160.468 million for priority land purchases, and $11.0 million for program
management and administration. A $2.5 million increase proposed for acquisition
management is needed to cover the cost of the Federal pay raise and for
additional personnel to administer the Federal land acquisition program in South
Florida. e additional staff are necessary to enable the NPS to meet the expected
completion schedule.
Funding requested for Federal land acquisition will
continue to be used for high priority purchases. Earmarked for Everglades
Ecosystem Restoration is a total of $80 million, including $20 million to
complete all necessary Federal land acquisition within the boundary of
Everglades National Park and $11.8 million to acquire lands within the original
Big Cypress watershed as well as lands within the preserve addition. A $45.6
million grant to the State of Florida is also being proposed under cost-share
terms that will require the State of Florida to match the Federal share on a 1:1
basis.
Importantly, the fiscal year 2000 budget also begins a three-year
initiative to complete acquisition of all authorized Civil War battlefields. Key
to this effort are requests for $6.3 million at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania
County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park to enable broader
protections for lands associated with the Chancellorsville and Wilderness battle
campaigns and $5.7 million to acquire three tracts that are threatened with
commercial development at Gettysburg National Military Park. The proposal also
includes $7.1 million for acquisition of fragile and environmentally sensitive
desert tortoise habitat at Mojave National Preserve (these lands additionally
contain significant natural, scenic, and archeological resources) and $5.0
million to acquire King family properties (including Mrs. King's residence, the
King Center Administration Building, and the Chapel of All Faiths) at Martin
Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site.
This budget, in addition, would
increase the level of funding by $1.0 million for each of the program's two
specialized land accounts (emergencies/hardships and inholdings/exchanges) from
$3.0 million to $4.0 million. As previously stated, the NPS request of $172.468
million for the land acquisition and State assistance program supports the
Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative and is part of a $1.0
billion effort to preserve America's land resources.
Conservation Grants and
Planning Assistance
A total of $200 million is proposed in fiscal year 2000
for a new Conservation Grants and Planning Assistance appropriation. The
Conservation Grants and Planning Assistance appropriation is comprised of two
activities: a Conservation Grants activity, proposed at $150 million, would
provide competitive grants to States, local and Tribal governments to assist
these communities in protecting and preserving green spaces; and a Planning
Assistance to States activity, would make $50 million available to States and
indian tribes for competitive planning grants to assist in developing open space
preservation plans. The NPS request for this program supports the
Administration's proposal for Lands Legacy and is central to the President's
broad strategy of "Forging a Conservation Vision for the 21st Century." Federal
funds will be used to leverage non-Federal monies to meet the matching
requirements. The program revives the Land and Water Conservation Fund State
grants program with a new emphasis on open space preservation.
Urban Park
and Recreation Fund
In fiscal year 2000, the NPS is proposing $4.0 million
for the Urban Park and Recreation Fund (UPARR) appropriation in support of the
Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative. UPARR grants will be
made available to economically distressed urban communities to support local
park and recreation program. Awards will be competitively based and will serve
as models for future year projects. Funding for this programs is being requested
under cost-shareterms that will require local governments to match the Federal
share; UPARR is a 70 percent Federal/30 percent local match program. This
appropriation was last funded in 1994.
In closing, Mr. Chairman, I would
like to note that the National Audubon Society, in a special issue of its
magazine, Audubon, printed in late 1998, celebrated 100 years of conservation
activism and history in the United States. An analysis of the achievements lend
significant credit to the Congress for a number of legislative measures
affecting parks, air, water, and wildlife. This budget reflects that tradition
of leadership in resource management. In addition, the issue also recognized 100
Americans who were instrumental in many of the accomplishments and achievements
in conservation over this century. Among these were Marjory Stoneman Douglas,
champion and supporter of the Everglades, and Secretary Bruce Babbitt for his
tireless efforts on behalf of the environment. Let our actions regarding this
budget stand as one of the first and finest achievements in the next 100 years
of conservation history.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my prepared remarks.
My associates and I will be pleased to answer any questions you or other members
of the Subcommittee may have.
END
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March 18, 1999 
