Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anyone who works in national parks, volunteers with the National Park Service or visits the parks can attest to the fact that staff shortages and maintenance backlogs have plagued the parks for years, through the administrations of Republicans and Democrats.

If there is any truth to documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ idea that creating the national parks is America’s best idea — and I’ve argued that it’s certainly in the top five — this budget deficit should be considered a grave breach bordering on malpractice.

U.S. Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine and chair of the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, recently grilled Interior Department Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau in a hearing about these issues: securing enough funding for park maintenance and ensuring sufficient staffing of “America’s greatest treasures.”

In a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, King questioned Beaudreau about the National Park Service plans to address these issues as it processes the NPS funding provided in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Without being specific, Deputy Secretary Beaudreau seemed to agree that more needs to be done to support the Park System.

King, who pointed out that Acadia National Park in Maine saw a drastic increase in visitation over the past few years — like many parks — with 4 million visitors last year alone, recently led the effort to increase the level of funding for maintenance and staffing in the fiscal year 2023 budget bill.

Senator King questioned the administration’s recent budget requests as seeming too low.

“What bothered me is the administration’s budget for maintenance in the national parks was inadequate,” King said.

He pointed out that the general economic rule of thumb is to provide 2 to 4 percent of capital value funding for maintenance.

“I think the budget this year is about 1 percent,” he said. “That’s not an indictment of this administration. That’s been the pattern for the past 25 or 30 years. That’s how we got into this hole.”

“This committee and the Congress worked very hard on the Great American Outdoors Act to tackle the maintenance backlog,” he said. “But it’s pretty frustrating to see that we’re still digging the hole.”

So he urged Beaudreau to take those concerns back to the leadership of the Department of the Interior.

“We can’t expect Congress to come to the rescue of the maintenance backlog every four or five years,” he said, “if indeed the budget is inadequate and makes the hole deeper every four or five years.”

Deputy Secretary Beaudreau said he would bring this up with his superiors, and the Office of Management and Budget.

“Thank you. And thank you for your leadership and partnership on these issues,” Beaudreau said. “I will definitely take that back, including to OMB.”

After securing funding in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Chairman also asked about the department’s hiring plan to staff national parks.

“Another area of increased funding has been in the Inflation Reduction Act for staffing at the national parks,” King said. “And I wanted to inquire if the department is moving toward implementation.”

He and Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana have called for 23,000 Full Time Equivalent staff at the national parks due to the increases in visitation.

“In fact, we have lower staffing than we had 15 years ago, 10 or 15 years ago,” King said. “Do you have a hiring plan and will you be able to get to the 23,000 figure in the reasonably foreseeable future?”

“Thank you. And thank you again for these investments,” the Deputy Secretary responded. “The Park Service has developed internal guidance and (a) hiring plan directed towards this summer. As you know, Senator, the largest demand period and largest stress on our national parks is during the summer season.”

“So part of our strategy to take advantage of these resources is focused on seasonal hiring in the coming year,” Beaudreau said. “And the Park Service has developed guidance disseminated to the parks for exactly that purpose.”

Watch the Hearing Video

Senator King is among the Senate’s loudest voices advocating for public lands and encouraging outdoor recreation, according a press release from his office.

In May, he pressed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on the importance of adequate staffing in national parks and the need to address maintenance backlogs.

In the April episode of his “Inside Maine” podcast and radio show, King highlighted the importance of National Parks and outdoor recreation with National Parks Subcommittee Ranking Member Senator Steve Daines of Montana.

Senator King was also awarded the inaugural National Park Foundation (NPF) “Hero” Award. He helped lead the passage the Great American Outdoors Act into law. The legislation includes the Restore Our Parks Act – a bill led by King – and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Permanent Funding Act.

The historic legislative package continues Senator King’s career-long focus on conservation efforts, dating back to his work prior to running for elected office through his years as Governor and his service in the Senate. Over the course of his time in the Blaine House, Governor King boasts that he was responsible for conserving more land across Maine than all Governors before him combined.

More Photos

(Sorry, but I’ve never been to Acadia National Park in Maine. But I’ve visited and photographed other national parks).

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