When a business executive looks at his or her product lines, it’s common to come across an offering that appears to be on its last legs. Maybe sales have stopped growing, or there’s a looming patent cliff or unstoppable competition. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t make sense to keep investing in it. Instead, the decision is made to harvest: leave that leak in the roof while you suck the remaining value out of your widget or service until it’s formally retired.
The U.S. National Park Service is decidedly not an offering on its last legs. The NPS has had more than 300 million visitors over each of the past four years. (In fact, it has had so many visitors that officials are discussing the need for reservations to enter marquee parks like Arches.) And the return on investment is impressive: according to a 2016 NPS study, Americans derive $92 billion in value from the system.
But for some reason, Congress and the Trump Administration appear to be harvesting these astonishing resources—refusing to make adequate investments while they suck all the value out of them.
To be clear, investments are made: $4 billion last year, according to the Office of Management and Budget. (Other sources claim the true figure is closer to $2 billion or $3 billion.) But that is nowhere near enough. Start with the $12 billion backlog of deferred maintenance. That big round number seems daunting, but it’s even more daunting when you look at specific parks: the Grand Canyon, for example, needs $313 million in refurbishing. Think about all the trails and stairs and stone walls you’d need to fix to rack up that kind of bill. (The list by state and park is here.) Gateway National Recreation Area needs $651 million.
Dated, broken, substandard infrastructure isn’t the only part of the park system that’s being shorted. The NPS hasn’t had enough money to hire enough people to help the increasing influx of visitors. USA Today, which has investigated NPS staffing using Freedom of Information Act filings, claims the parks’ workforce has dropped by 20 percent in the past decade.
This might be understandable if we didn’t have money for the parks. But we do; it just needs to be allocated to that instead of, say, tax breaks for the wealthy. And when money is allocated, it shouldn’t be siphoned off for other activities that are not really part of the parks’ mission.
The obvious case in point is tomorrow’s big presidential vanity parade in Washington, D.C., for which the service will divert an estimated $2.5 million (with more from the military for flyovers, tanks, etc.). Add to that the persistent pilfering of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was established over a half-century ago with the express purpose of providing funds from oil and gas leases for the preservation of public lands and waterways, including the NPS. Roughly $900 million is supposed to come from the fund for the parks, but it never does. Well, it has. Twice. In 54 years.
All of this is misguided and depressing, but it’s especially sad that over $4 million in uncompleted repairs will be observable from Trump’s review stand at the Lincoln Memorial. This is like wearing a silk tie from a fancy designer while your pants are split. Like buying a gold toilet when the furnace is broken. It’s embarrassing on multiple levels.
It is obvious but still worth saying: if Trump or Congress were sincere about giving a “Salute to America,” they would fix the roof and pay their bills.
Photo: North Fork Cascade Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, via the National Park Service
