Staff cuts at national parks among America’s worst ideas
By Rob Smith

National parks have been termed “America’s best idea,” but the dramatic and unjustified staffing cuts being rolled out by the new Trump Administration are among our nation’s worst.

First there was the hiring freeze on seasonal employees, which are the rangers and staff hired to meet visitors and care for the parks during the summer vacation months. Then some jobs were “unfrozen” but the delay in bringing them back disrupted recruitment, training and morale.

Soon after came the firing of park staff within their initial “probationary” year in a new position, which often meant experienced staff recently promoted. The generic reason given was a failure to meet job performance, but this was an across-the-board cut with no individual justifications and often despite positive job reviews for many staff. Expect more pressure coming to reduce National Park Service staffing, even as the heavy visitation season soon begins.

The impact on our national parks is serious (as it is on other federal services). National parks have been understaffed for decades, and now they will be even more so. For instance, Mount Rainier has seen a 31% increase in visitors since 2013, but a 29% loss of permanent staff (the kind just fired). Crater Lake visitation has increased during the same time by 6% while losing 22% of its full-time staff.

The National Park Service amounts to just 1/15th of 1% of our national budget, so it’s not the place to look for big savings. Meanwhile, every dollar spent on the parks returns $10 to the local economy, often places which rely heavily on tourism and recreation.

The national parks are a good deal, and they should be treated a good deal better.

Tell our elected officials to speak up for our most treasured places and restore park rangers and other staff to care for the national parks.

Washington State Considers Grizzly Bears
By Graham Taylor

Last year NPCA celebrated a major achievement – convincing the National Park Service (NPS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to finalize a decision to restore grizzly bears to the North Cascades. However, layoffs and hiring freezes will challenge the agencies’ ability to implement this restoration. This legislative session, NPCA and likeminded conservation groups began to ask the question: could Washington state help restore the grizzly?

Similar species restoration efforts have taken place in other states, like Colorado which approved a voter ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves. Unfortunately, Washington has a state law, RCW 77.12.035 that prohibits the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) from using out-of-state bears to jumpstart our local populations. To address this barrier, Representatives Springer, Fitzgibbon, Berg and Ramel introduced HB1825 to repeal sections of the RCW that limit WDFW’s power to restore this state-listed threatened species.

While the legislation is not expected to pass this year, NPCA was excited to see the legislature push to give WDFW the full power to work with federal agencies to pursue grizzly bear recovery in the North Cascades. NPCA will continue to push for full implementation of the federal decision to restore grizzly bears, and we’re looking into complementary avenues at the state-level to make sure the parks regain this iconic species.

NW Forests Key to Conservation in Washington, Oregon and Northern California
By Graham Taylor

The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), enacted in 1994, was a pivotal strategy to mitigate the escalating conflict between clear cut logging practices and conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest. A team of 600 specialists created a framework that was arguably our nation’s first landscape-scale conservation plan. While the plan only lightly considered our National Parks, the conservation that came from preserving adjacent forests essentially expanded the protected acreage, providing bigger core areas for wildlife habitat as well as key connections between protected landscapes.

Multiple national park landscapes and park dependent species have benefitted from the NWFP. Over 2.2 million acres of National Park Service (NPS) managed lands are at the center of landscapes surrounded or adjacent to lands managed under the NWFP. The NPS manages seven units that are adjacent to US Forest Service (USFS) land governed by the rules set forth in the NWFP. Those units include the North Cascades National Park Complex, Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, Redwood National Park and segments of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

As the Forest Service considers updating the Northwest Forest Plan, NPCA is advocating for old and large trees. We’re supporting many recommendations brought forward by Tribal nations who were not fully engaged when the original plan was created. And, we are working to ensure that the NWFP continues to support wildlife that depend on healthy national parks and forests, especially since many species may need to migrate to adapt to changes in the climate.

Fifty years of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
By Colin Deverell

This fall, Central Oregon’s favorite national park will celebrate its 50th Anniversary. Created in 1975, the park has seen hundreds of thousands of visitors to its high desert valleys, meandering streams, and iconic Painted Hills. Park scientists have been on the cutting edge of paleontological research, surveying and researching a plant and animal fossil record that spans 45 million years, while developing exhibits for park visitors to experience and understand the region’s unique landscape and history.

We are excited to celebrate this milestone with events throughout the year during which participants will learn about the park and NPCA’s efforts to conserve its natural and scientific resources. Stay tuned for more information about where and when you can join us!

NPCA Launches Park Protection Fund
To navigate these challenges parks are facing and to ensure we’re prepared to act when opportunities arise, NPCA has launched the Park Protection Fund. We are seeking $15 million in new investments to support existing and potential new legal cases, advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local level, and public awareness campaigns to engage park supporters around the country. Learn more or donate to help protect our parks.

Thank you for being an NPCA supporter and for standing up for our parks.

Sincerely,

Rob Smith
Northwest Regional Director