Park Service defends funds used to stay open during shutdown

Democrats grilled National Park Service (NPS) leadership about the decision to keep parks open during last year’s government shutdown as the agency defended its 2020 budget on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

NPS Deputy Director Dan Smith appeared before a House Appropriations subcommittee to defend a budget that makes nearly $500 million in cuts to the agency.

{mosads}But beyond budget cuts to an agency overseeing parks that received an increase in visitors last year, many Democrats were also concerned about damage to the parks sustained during the 35-day partial government shutdown. The shutdown decreased overall revenue given the absence of paid entry fees.

Heaping trashcans, overflowing bathrooms, and off-road drives through Joshua Tree National Park made headlines. The damage was rectified quickly, Smith said, once workers were able to go into the parks “a day or two” after the shutdown.

President Trump committed to keeping national parks open during the shutdown, and the National Park Service was able to keep many parks open by tapping into $250 million in Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) funds. Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt gave permission to drain funds until they reached a “zero balance.”

But lawmakers and conservationists have long questioned whether FLREA funds may be used to keep the parks open, given that the funding is designated for improvement of parks rather than day-to-day operations. Smith said he believes the funds were used appropriately and only regrets not authorizing them to be used immediately in order to avoid some of the maintenance issues that captured public attention.

“I believe it was the right decision,” Smith said of using the funds.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) disagreed, saying keeping the parks open presented public health and safety issues.

“I’m not sure I would agree with you that it was no big deal. I personally saw overflowing trashcans, vandalism, human waste was piled up in restrooms and other places in some of our parks, to the point that some of your personnel were thinking they may need to call hazmat teams to clean them up,” Huffman said.

Also of concern to many on the subcommittee is the National Park Service’s nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog, up from $11.6 billion last year.

Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.) said the problem is growing faster than the park service can keep up, leaving Congress to authorize additional funding obtained from oil and gas royalty payments on federal lands.

“I fear that if the park service does not implement its own plan to address these issues rather than rely on these particular funds, we’re going to be right back here 10 years from now,” Hice said. “The American people need those energy revenues for other things, not as a de facto piggy bank for parks service.”

The number of annual visitors to national parks has been growing, but the budget would cut the number of full-time employees for the agency along with funding in several areas.

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands Chairwoman Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) said the budget would bring funding back to 2010 levels, calling it “reckless and irresponsible. It shows a total disregard for our country’s cultural and historic sites.”