Amid the tales of sequestration travails, observing the response by Yellowstone National Park to a 5% cut in the National Park Service’s budget reveals just what priorities are being applied by administrators.
Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk’s handling of the situation: freeze permanent hires, hire fewer seasonal employees, and delay plowing entrances to the park by two weeks, resulting in late openings. In response to Wenk’s decision, local business owners that would be hurt by the delayed opening (estimated loss at $250,000) banded together via the chambers of congress to provide equipment and personnel to facilitate plowing, reviewed in detail by Bill Croke at the American Spectator.
Yet what has been lost in this story is Wenk’s inability to make a different type of cut.
I spoke with a resident of Jackson, WY, a gateway community to Yellowstone, who mentioned the recent construction of a network of bike paths that go up into the park, each path afforded bridges to cross rivers. The use of park rangers to put forth environmental evangelization — is there room for a cut there, at least in order to save the communities $250,000 in lost business?
Is Wenk setting the correct priorities? And what is the purpose of the national park: to be open to the public, in this case by allocating funds to plowing the roads, or to enable a quite different set of priorities?
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From what I can tell after visiting several National Parks over the past few years, hardcore liberalism is in control. All of the “nature talks” that I have attended are, indeed, radical anti-human environmentalist propaganda.
I am sure, given the opportunity, the NPS would just as soon ban all people (except the enlightened high priests of environmentalism, such as themselves).
Possible typo, “inability to make more a different type of cuts”
That being said. Every federal agency wants to make the sequester look bad so they can have more money, hire more people and make their job easier.
All the cuts currently being applied have no relationship to sensible prioritization. It has EVERYTHING to do with public inconvenience.
“We” are now suffering the consequences to the guy that “we” re-elected. Common sense has been buried even deeper so as to prevent any possibility of rational thought and processes by those who dictate the everyday quality of life for the rest of us.
Ain’t it just grand???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgRRfWx71fo&feature=youtu.be
Making it hurt is the feature, not a bug.
Bring back Yogi and Boo Boo and forget the bike paths. People will have to hike for now.
Is Wenk setting the priorities at all? The WH has been keen on making sure sequester related cuts are out front and hurtful to the people, for cynical political reasons, of course, and I’d be very surprised if all department heads haven’t had to run proposed cuts by the WH for approval.
…and delay plowing entrances to the park by two weeks…
Soon to be a moot point, when globull warming leaves us with endless summer.
how dare you ungrateful scum not give his highness the emperor all the tribute he desires?
your disrespect has dire consequences, as we see here.
bow down and pay up, knaves!
“And what is the purpose of the national park: to be open to the public, in this case by allocating funds to plowing the roads, or to enable a quite different set of priorities?”
To employ National Park Service employees.
Biking is good business for towns . They at least base themselves in town & use local cafes hotels & services rather than just drive hru.
What have you got against bridges Anne ? Last week it was a suspension footbridge in NY now some crossings over streams & gullies in Yellowstone. EVERYONE can use these. – if one is prepared to walk or ride a bike. It is not a sedgeway .
It is good management to look after infrastructure once built – so yes it might create a job or two. Ivan bet you Wyoming residents are wanting those jobs.The combination of environment & engineering is a growth area & one that attracts high quality people. I don’t get your hostility.
Obviously nothing against bridges per se, but bikes can go on the exiting road to cross streams quite easily. So obviously if money is tight then improvements to things that people can do already the way they are, should take lower precedence than shutting down things everyone was able to do before (like come in the park at all)
Logic assumes these to be trail or mountain biking designated. Bikers usually drive to a nearest point & do the trails . Thus they pay all their entry fees also.
.
funny how a decrease in an expected increase, while still being an increase, is somehow an insurmountable challenge……
So have they calculated how much revenue the park loses as a result of being shut two weeks longer? It seems like they would lose more than they save by delaying opening the park.
Apparently, they ran the numbers and decided it would be a worthwhile expenditure.
That’s the difference between government and actual businesses.
[…] The White House is closed for tours, but open for business. Additionally, much like Governor Blagojevich, under President Obama, the National Park Service is making oddly prioritized cuts, as Anne Sorock at Legal Insurrection writes: […]
[…] The White House is closed for tours, but open for business. Additionally, much like Governor Blagojevich, under President Obama, the National Park Service is making oddly prioritized cuts, as Anne Sorock at Legal Insurrection writes: […]