Just Days Away, the Sequester Would Wreak Havoc with U.S. National Parks

The dreaded sequester -- a drastic cut in federal appropriations for the Defense Department, on the one hand, and discretionary civilian operations on the other -- is scheduled to go into effect at the end of February, unless Congress takes action to enact a more gentle and balanced approach to government spending.

The politics of that development are not for this travel blog to discuss.

But one aspect of the sequester does call for comment by persons concerned with both the travel industry and the quality of life in our nation, and that is the effect of those cuts on the National Parks Service. An official of the National Parks Retirees Association appeared with my daughter and myself on The Travel Show last Sunday [listen to that podcast] to point out that the sequester, taking place near the end of the Parks Department's fiscal year, would require an immediate cut of $110,000,000. A slash that great would require the firing or reduced hours of thousands of Parks rangers and other service and maintenance personnel. And the result of that downturn in employment would require the closing of numerous National Parks facilities, or shorter hours or days of operation of the parks, or a cut-back in vital maintenance of Parks buildings and roads.

It would, in effect, decimate our superb Parks system, ruining or eliminating many attractions and services, and drastically reducing the ability of citizens to vacation in these magnificent and pristine areas of America.

Write to your representative in Congress, demanding that they take action to prevent such a wholesale destruction of great national assets.