NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:

Partnering & Managing for Excellence

Fact Sheet
July 2, 2003

ISSUE:

The report, National Park Service: Partnering and Managing for Excellence documents accomplishments in four major areas—Maintenance Backlog and Facility Management Excellence; Enhancing Partnerships, Volunteers, and Recreation; Resource Protection through Science and Cooperation; and Serving Visitors and Keeping Parks Safe. The document also highlights “next steps” which the NPS will take over the next two years to further improve and strengthen the NPS management and stewardship of the nation’s national parks. This is the first document of its kind to be prepared in the 21st century.

BACKGROUND:

In May 2001 at Sequoia National Park, President Bush affirmed his commitment to “ensure proper care of our National Park System” and to “improve outdoor opportunities” through his National Parks Legacy Project.

As part of the President’s National Parks Legacy Project, NPS Director Fran Mainella focused her efforts on the four major areas of: Maintenance Backlog and Facility Management Excellence; Enhancing Partnerships, Volunteers, and Recreation; Resource Protection through Science and Cooperation; and Serving Visitors and Keeping Parks Safe.

The NPS manages 388 park units that contain some of the Nation’s most significant cultural, natural, and historic treasures. Established in 1916 to conserve park scenery, wildlife and natural and historic objects, the national parks attract millions of visitors that hike, canoe, explore, and learn about our Nation’s history, culture, lands, and waters.

The President’s National Parks Legacy set forth a vision of caring for and enhancing these special places. The President’s leadership team is carrying out this vision through what Interior Secretary Gale Norton refers to as the 4 C’s—conservation through cooperation, communication, and consultation. NPS Director Fran Mainella is overseeing NPS efforts, which are restoring old facilities, improving landscape health, enhancing opportunities for visitors to enjoy parks, and inspiring volunteers to participate in their care.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

This report highlights accomplishments and identifies next steps for fulfilling the President’s National Parks Legacy vision.

Maintenance Backlog and Facility Management Excellence.

• Two years into the Bush administration, the NPS has made tremendous headway in addressing the President’s commitment to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog. Since FY 2002, nearly $2.9 billion has been provided to address the $4.9 billion backlog. Approximately 900 repair/rehabilitation projects were addressed in FY 2001 and 2002. Another 500 projects are being tackled in FY 2003.
• Accompanying the National Parks Legacy Project is a vigorous effort to bring state-of-the-art facilities management to the parks. The first step is to understand the condition of the facilities at each park. Accordingly, the NPS is accelerating its efforts to complete facility condition assessments at all 388 parks to provide, for the first time, a complete inventory of maintenance needs.
• Examples of maintenance backlog projects include the rehabilitation of the historic Monroe School for adaptive reuse as a visitor center, museum, library, and administrative facility at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Kansas; the removal of an existing unsafe visitor center and construction of a new environmental education/visitor orientation and administrative facility at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge at Gateway National Recreation Area in New York; the repair and rehabilitation of the 92-year-old Cliff House at Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California; and, the construction of a new science facility to provide lab storage, storage for natural history collections, and work space for scientists at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.
• NPS Director Mainella champions continued development of park business plans to enhance the management of parks across the Nation. With the assistance of graduate students from the top business and public policy schools, business plans have been developed for more than 60 national park areas. Director Mainella values enhanced strategic and financial management capabilities gained through the business planning process.

Partnerships, Volunteers, and Recreation.

• The NPS infuses its operations with partnerships in all areas of management and at all levels of the organization to leverage and provide additional resources, encourage diversity of visitors and employees, to link with communities and educational institutions, and to facilitate a seamless nationwide network of parks and open spaces.
• Building upon the President’s USA Freedom Corps initiative for volunteers, Secretary Norton re-launched the Take Pride in America program. In FY 2001 and 2002, over 125,000 volunteers contributed nine million hours of service in their national parks at a value of $140 million.
• The NPS is a key participant in the Preserve America initiative announced by First Lady Laura Bush in 2003. The program objectives are to protect and celebrate the heritage of American communities, educate citizens about their heritage, use historic assets for economic development and community revitalization, and encourage heritage tourism.
• Recreational opportunities created, provided, and enhanced by the NPS play a central role in the Healthier U.S. Initiative, the President’s program to alert Americans to the healthful benefits of physical activity and good nutrition. In addition to caring for 388 park units, the NPS encourages fitness by helping communities create close-to-home trails, greenways, and parks to make physical activity a more convenient part of people’s daily lives. In 2001-2002, the NPS assisted states, local governments, and the private sector in creating or protecting more than 3,300 miles of trails, 1,500 miles of river corridor, and 127,000 acres of park lands, wildlife habitat, and open space.

Enhancing Resource Protection—Science and Cooperation.

• A multi-year program, the Natural Resource Challenge, is providing information, expertise, and tools to help understand and protect the nation’s natural heritage managed by the NPS. The President’s commitment to the Natural Resource Challenge has added more than $104 million to the NPS budget.
• The NPS is an active partner with other agencies in implementing the National Fire Plan and the President’s Healthy Forest Initiative. In 2001 and 2002, the NPS treated more than 250,000 acres for hazardous fuel reduction. Through the Rural Fire Assistance Program, the NPS assisted 664 small fire departments within the last two years with fire training, personal protective gear, and other equipment, totaling nearly $6 million.

Serving Visitors and Keeping Parks Safe.

• In addition to providing for visitor safety and protecting park resources in 388 units of the National Park System, park rangers have also played an increasing and vital role in homeland security assignments over the past two years.
• The increased security required at national icons and other high-risk parks has required nearly 200 protection rangers and commitments approximately 20 percent above normal operations for the United States Park Police on a regular and recurring rotational basis.
• In July 2002 Secretary Norton issued directives to improve the management of the law enforcement program within the National Park Service and across the Department of the Interior. These directives will ensure that all protection rangers are supervised by commissioned law enforcement personnel; improve officer safety; improve accountability, and provide for enhanced security of our national icons.
• The newly created position of Associate Director for Visitor and Resource Protection is implementing strategies for addressing officer safety and law enforcement program reforms in coordination with park, regional, and senior law enforcement and management staff.
• In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent anthrax attacks, NPS developed a comprehensive Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan to protect public health in the unique setting of the national parks.