Although the actual impact on campers in National Parks may be less than originally feared, it’s a good idea to check to see how the Sequester has affected your planned camping trip to a National Park before you go. Sequestration is a set of automatic spending cuts contained in the Budget Control Act. Since Congress has not been able to agree upon an alternative to these cuts, deep budget cuts in most aspects of government went into effect on March 1, 2013, including a 5% budget cut for each National Park.
The National Park system already operates on a relatively small budget, with very little room for belt tightening. National Parks are a very profitable endeavor for the American taxpayer. National Parks get $10 for every $1 invested by taxpayers. In some areas of the country, National Parks will limit services, access to certain areas, and close campgrounds in order to save money. This is a situation where not only will cuts limit what National Parks can do but will actually loose money for our Nation Parks instead of saving it.
There are 13 National parks, monuments, and historical sites in Colorado, including extremely popular camping, tourist, and local destinations such as Rocky Mountain National Park, the Cache La Poudre River Corridor, Colorado National Monument, and Mesa Verde National Park. To illustrate the impact on an individual park, Dinosaur National Monument’s share of the 5% burden is $170,263. In order to meet their decreased budget, they will not be filling two full-time positions, one for a journeyman and one for a wildlife biologist, and will make up the rest with cuts to staff training, travel, and supplies. Cutting staff and shortening business hours in visitor centers is the major way these areas are dealing with the budget cuts. Though these cuts will be mostly invisible to park visitors this year, if the budget constraints continue, it will be more noticeable in years to come.
If visiting a National Park in Colorado or camping in a Colorado National Park is on your list of activities this year, be aware that sequestration may have affected campgrounds or services. It’s always a good idea to visit the park website for updates on the area, including any road construction, fees, pet policies, and any other alerts.
If you are as worried as I am about the current situation and future of our camping areas in our National and State parks please take a moment to contact your state and national representatives. Ask them to do their jobs and figure out how to effectively run our country again. Throw the partisan grandstanding aside and learn to compromise for the betterment of our lives, not their political futures.
