Trump Cuts Park Staff, Diverts Fees to DC
Trump Cuts Park Staff, Diverts Fees to DC
The News
President Trump's administration has disrupted the national park system by cutting staff and putting off maintenance while steering resources to his favored projects in Washington, the New York Times reported Saturday.
The Times said maintenance projects have been deferred around the country as money and attention shift to the capital. It published the story under the headline "Gold Statues and Staff Cuts: How White House Has Disrupted America's Parks."
Raw Story, writing up the Times report, said Trump has cut national park staff across the country and steered park fee revenue toward his projects in D.C.
Timeline
Theodore Roosevelt ventures into the wilderness of California's Yosemite Valley and emerges with a sweeping conservation policy, the New York Times notes — the start of a tradition of presidents in both parties valuing the national parks.
The Times publishes its report on National Park Service budget cuts, describing deferred maintenance nationwide and resources diverted to the president's favored projects in Washington.
Raw Story and Political Wire pick up the report, with Raw Story saying experts are sounding the alarm over the cost of the shift.
Reactions
The Times framed the parks as rare common ground: "Polling shows that Americans of all stripes and political persuasions overwhelmingly love their parks," the paper wrote, noting that presidents of both parties have valued them since Roosevelt.
Raw Story, a left-leaning outlet, was blunter, calling the cost "catastrophic" and saying experts are sounding the alarm over staff cuts and redirected fee money.
No response from the White House or the Interior Department appears in the coverage of this story reviewed by The Frank.
What's Next
The measure to watch is the maintenance backlog: the Times reports projects have already been put off around the country, and deferred work tends to compound season over season.
Also unresolved is how much park fee revenue continues to flow to Washington projects, and whether the administration answers the criticism publicly.
More
The story sits in a spot most Washington fights don't: the parks are one of the few federal programs with broad bipartisan support among voters, per the polling the Times cites. That is why staffing levels and fee revenue — normally administrative details — are landing as a political story.
Poll
Should national park fee revenue be spent on projects in Washington, D.C.?
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