Burgum’s Order to Maintain NPS Access Draws Praise, Fire – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum on April 3 released an Order that aims to ensure national parks remain open and accessible. While the action was met with praise from a number of outlets – including the RV Industry Association (RVIA) – others have criticized the move, calling it “micromanagement at its worst.”
“This is a major step forward in protecting campground access and availability,” according to an RVIA News & Insights report. “The RV Industry Association and Outdoor Recreation Roundtable have been advocating for keeping parks and campgrounds open and staffed, and this order recognizes campgrounds as a key asset.”
Keeping National Park Service campgrounds open and accessible was a request from RVIA during a recent discussion with Burgum, the report continued.
The order requires any closures or reductions in operating hours, seasons, or visitor services, including trails and campgrounds, to be reviewed by the NPS Director and the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks before any action is taken by individual park units. This helps safeguard against sudden closures, RVIA stated in its report.
The Secretary’s Order also states that “the Department shall take action to ensure that the National Park Service is properly staffed to support the operating hours and needs of each park unit.” Continued investment in the National Park Service workforce will ensure this order’s true success.
“In addition to ensuring parks remain open,” RVIA’s report continued, “proper staffing and funding are crucial to keeping the parks and campgrounds running safely and smoothly. For RVers, this Secretary’s Order, coupled with proper staffing and resources is critical. Adequate resources help safeguard against unexpected closures, giving the National Park Service staff the tools they need to safely open and operate parks and campgrounds and RVing families more certainty as they plan their trips. It helps ensure their summer visits won’t be cancelled at the last minute, which is especially important for park visitors coordinating travel logistics and campsite reservations. “
However, Burgum’s order was met with criticism from groups such as the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), a nonpartisan group that includes some 1.6 million members and supporters working together to “protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations.”
Secretary Burgum’s order states that to “ensure visitor access and satisfaction, any closures or reductions to operating hours, seasons, or any visitor services (including trails and campgrounds), in whole or in part, must be reviewed by the NPS Director and the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks prior to any reduction action by the individual park units.”
NPCA believes this order not only creates more unnecessary roadblocks for parks staff but will also endanger park resources and visitors, according to a release.
There are more than 430 national park sites across the country, each overseen by a superintendent or manager responsible for daily operations. Decisions about closures or changes in hours aren’t made lightly. These decisions are based on staffing levels, weather, maintenance needs and other park-specific challenges. But under this new order, superintendents would need approval before acting, even when visitor safety or resource protection is on the line. Forcing park superintendents and managers to wait on political sign-off could delay critical decisions and potentially violate the Organic Act. Peak visitation season is upon us and millions of people are traveling to our national parks. When lives and irreplaceable places are on the line, there’s no time to waste.
“This is yet another attempt by the administration to sideline the expertise of dedicated park staff. It’s micromanagement at its worst, creating more red tape when park staff are already stretched dangerously thin and dealing with peak visitation season. This order is reckless and out of touch,” stated Kristen Brengel, SVP of Government Affairs for NPCA.
“Park mangers know their parks better than anyone,” she continued. “They have been trusted to make short- and long-term decisions to protect visitors and safeguard our most irreplaceable natural and historic treasures. The administration is now tying their hands and forcing them to jump through bureaucratic hoops just to close a trail, campground or visitor center they believe poses a risk or can’t be staffed.
“Years of understaffing and underfunding have already forced many parks to scale back visitor center hours and visitor services. And in a matter of weeks, the administration has made a bad situation worse, pushing out hundreds more park staff and piling on obstacles that prevent park staff from doing their jobs. They are setting the Park Service up for failure,” she said.
“This ill-conceived policy flies in the face of responsible management of national parks, risking both visitor safety and the very resources the Park Service was created and is mandated to protect. That’s why NPCA is urging Secretary Burgum to immediately retract this order for the protection of our parks and the millions who visit them,” Brengel concluded.
For more information, visit www.npca.org.
