[Senate Hearing 118-272]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 118-272
THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET REQUEST
FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024
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HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
NATIONAL PARKS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
MAY 10, 2023
__________
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
55-521 WASHINGTON : 2025
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COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia, Chairman
RON WYDEN, Oregon JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont MIKE LEE, Utah
MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico STEVE DAINES, Montana
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana
MARK KELLY, Arizona CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
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Subcommittee on National Parks
ANGUS S. KING, JR., Chairman
BERNARD SANDERS STEVE DAINES
MARTIN HEINRICH MIKE LEE
MAZIE K. HIRONO LISA MURKOWSKI
MARK KELLY CINDY HYDE-SMITH
Renae Black, Staff Director
Sam E. Fowler, Chief Counsel
David Brooks, General Counsel
Richard M. Russell, Republican Staff Director
Justin J. Memmott, Republican Chief Counsel
John Tanner, Republican Deputy Staff Director for Lands
CONTENTS
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OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
King, Jr., Hon. Angus S., Subcommittee Chairman and a U.S.
Senator from Maine............................................. 1
Daines, Hon. Steve, Subcommittee Ranking Member and a U.S.
Senator from Montana........................................... 4
WITNESS
Sams III, Hon. Charles F., Director, National Park Service;
accompanied by Jessica Bowron, Comptroller, National Park
Service........................................................ 6
ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
Cantwell, Hon. Maria:
Photographs of the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center before and
after the May 2023 fire.................................... 23
Coalition to Protect America's National Parks:
Statement for the Record..................................... 36
Daines, Hon. Steve:
Opening Statement............................................ 4
King, Jr., Hon. Angus S.:
Opening Statement............................................ 1
Chart depicting NPS staffing and visitation from 2010-2022... 2
Sams III, Hon. Charles F.:
Opening Statement............................................ 6
Written Testimony............................................ 8
Responses to Questions for the Record........................ 30
Spiller, Judy and Chuck Ott:
Letter for the Record........................................ 40
THE PRESIDENT'S BUDGET REQUEST FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FOR FISCAL
YEAR 2024
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2023
U.S. Senate,
Subcommittee on National Parks,
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in
Room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Angus S.
King, Jr., Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ANGUS S. KING, JR.,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MAINE
Senator King. The National Parks Subcommittee of the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee will come to order.
Good morning. Welcome to the first hearing of the National
Parks Subcommittee for the 118th Congress. Looking forward to
today's hearing, we will be focusing on the National Park
Service's Fiscal Year 2024 budget request. We welcome Director
Chuck Sams to the Subcommittee. I am looking forward to our
discussion. Joining Director Sams is Comptroller Jessica
Bowron. Again, welcome to you both, and thanks for your time.
I am pleased to see that the President requested an overall
increase of $289 million for a total of $3.8 billion for the
Park Service. However, fixed costs for the Park Service
increased by $120 million, which would leave an additional $169
million for increased impact, for those of you that are
following the math. Part of that increase--the budget outlines
an increase of 1,369 employees, which would bring staffing up
to 20,759. This is an important step toward the 23,000
employees that Senator Daines and I have been advocating for.
It also shows that the Park Service is wisely using the $500
million Congress recently provided for long-term staffing
purposes in the Inflation Reduction Act. It is my hope this
trend continues until we get to our workforce goal.
The chart that I have brought, that my staff prepared,
indicates that the blue lines are visitation. The orange line
is staffing. And as you can see, a dramatic increase year by
year in visitation, and a decline in staffing.
[The chart referred to follows:]
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator King. Now, the good news is it is on the upswing,
and as you can see, it is coming up and projected to come up
again this year. And for that, we congratulate you, but the
point I want to make is, we are still not where we should be,
just going back to the staffing ratio to visitation of 2010. So
we are moving in the right direction, but we want to maintain
that momentum. And I think it is very important because this is
a fundamental part of the experience of people visiting the
national parks. If there is inadequate staffing, they don't
have the experience and the full ability to enjoy the parks
that they should.
In addition to staffing, one of the challenges facing the
Park Service is maintenance, both routine and deferred. On
routine maintenance, I am concerned we are not investing to
meet the challenges the system faces. The total facility
maintenance line-item request is an increase of $93 million.
However, both the repair and rehabilitation and the cyclical
maintenance are kept flat at the same levels they have been for
the last two years. I hope to better understand why that is and
if these subaccounts should receive greater priority. On the
deferred side of the maintenance ledger, there is some good
news and some bad news, and Congress will need to make some
hard decisions.
I want to pause here for a moment. The Congress, through a
bipartisan--Senator Daines and I were prime sponsors of the
Great American Outdoors Act to address deferred maintenance. My
concern is that we are still deferring maintenance. That
instead of digging out of the hole--we are helping--the Great
American Outdoors Act, unquestionably has been a significant
step forward, but at the same time, there is still more
deferred maintenance, so we are still digging the hole. And I
think that is something that we really need to be discussing.
As I mentioned, Vice Chair Daines and I were part of a
bipartisan group of Senators that negotiated the passage of the
Great American Outdoors Act. It was monumental, and its biggest
impact on the National Park Service was establishing the five-
year Legacy Restoration Fund. The fund provided the Park
Service with $6 billion to repair and recapitalize assets that
had significant deferred maintenance. These are repairs that
should have been made long ago, but because of budget
constraints were deferred, and now require bigger investments
than they might have had, had they been fixed in the first
place.
At the time we passed the bill--we thought, we debated--the
total deferred maintenance backlog was $12 billion. Remember
that figure? That was the figure we were using. We hoped that
would be able to cut that backlog in half. Unfortunately, we
now know, at the end of Fiscal Year 2022, the total deferred
maintenance backlog is more like $22 billion. There are a
couple of explanations for that large change, and I think we
need some reminders. The increase came about because the Park
Service updated how it tracks and catalogs the maintenance
backlog. Now the Service looks at what it will take to get the
assets back to working condition instead of simply adding up
work orders, which were focused on short-term, band-aid fixes.
This has resulted in what appears on the surface to be a huge
increase in the maintenance backlog, but a more accurate
assessment, in my view. I don't blame the Park Service for this
change. We need to use the most accurate data available, even
when it tells us what we don't want to hear, though I must say,
it is somewhat disheartening. So I want to hear about how we
define success now that our baseline has changed so markedly.
As we are approaching the end of the Legacy Restoration
Fund, this Subcommittee needs to think about what comes next
and how we will define that success. If we are going to even
think about extending the restoration fund, I want to be sure I
understand the current state of the deferred maintenance
backlog, what the Park Service is doing to most effectively and
efficiently use that funding and making sure they are not
relying too heavily on the Great American Outdoors Act funding
to supplant annual appropriations that should also be going
toward routine maintenance and repairs. You can't depend upon
being bailed out by a Great American Outdoors Act every five
years. Maintenance has to be done on an ongoing basis. Even if
there was not a routine maintenance gap and the deferred
maintenance backlog vanished, we would still have challenges
recapitalizing assets when they reach the end of their useful
life. So perhaps there is a role for a permanent
recapitalization fund.
On a final note, I also want to say that I am very pleased
by how the Park Service has been moving toward the selection of
projects for funding under the Great American Outdoors Act.
Deferred maintenance is not evenly spread across the country,
but I know the Service has been diligent in making sure
projects of varying sizes across a variety of park unit types
have benefited from the funding. The FY24 list of projects
would spend $1.33 billion and retire $1.25 billion in deferred
maintenance. That is a pretty good ratio. I look forward to
actually seeing that reduction in the coming years.
Now I will turn to Vice Chair Daines for his opening
statement and then to Director Sams for his opening statement
and we will get to questions.
Senator Daines.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DAINES,
U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA
Senator Daines. Chairman King, thank you.
As I have said many times, our parks actually bring this
city of Washington together, more often than not, and our
country together as well. Over the years, Congress has worked
together to support and enhance our national parks as truly one
of the great gifts to the people of our great nation. In 2020,
the President signed the Great American Outdoors Act. Many said
it was the greatest conservation win in perhaps up to 50 years.
It was a historic investment in our parks, and I could not
agree more with Chairman King's comments that the Great
American Outdoors Act was a very important, monumental
achievement here in Washington, but it was not meant to replace
the need to continually fund backlog and take care of the
backlog maintenance issue in terms of ongoing appropriations.
It was meant to be kind of a jump-start to it, to get out of
the hole, but not a means to replace what needs to be taken
care of, which is the maintenance of our parks.
It is debt. Chairman King has said that before. We have to
think about maintenance backlog as debt that is held by our
parks. It is crumbling housing for park employees. It is
outdated and overloaded wastewater systems. It is inaccessible
trails and parking areas littered with potholes. And that is
why we came together and passed the Great American Outdoors
Act. And while we have seen great work done with that funding,
we have also seen the maintenance backlog continue to grow. It
is simply unsustainable. And grow, I think, is probably an
understatement. I mean, massively--virtually doubling. I look
forward to discussing how the Park Service has implemented this
important law and how we can improve the process to reduce the
National Parks maintenance backlog.
The Committee also came together to introduce the Gateway
Community and Recreation Enhancement Act. This bill, sponsored
by the Chairman and myself, supports our gateway communities.
It spreads visitation to lesser-known recreation areas. It
improves visitation data, creates a digital park pass, and all
these, I think, are important tangible steps in supporting
parks and local communities. This issue is even more important
after the devastating flood that occurred in Yellowstone
National Park last year. We are just about coming up on the
one-year anniversary. Ensuring quick recovery for both the park
and gateway communities is extremely important.
I want to applaud the Park Service, and as we chatted as
well, Mr. Sams, the work that Superintendent Sholly did. The
hard work--he was tireless and his team there where they
continued to--I mean, it was a 24/7 operation there. And it is
remarkable what they accomplished in the relatively short
construction season we have in places like Yellowstone Park.
And we want to look more at digging deeper in the recovery
efforts here today.
Finally, I think it's important this Committee continue to
look at the housing solutions. As Chairman King put that
staffing chart on the board there, when both of us engage with
our respective superintendents at our great parks, both
sometimes in our backyards, literally, and around the country,
we hear there is a connection between staffing and housing. As
we have seen more Americans want to move closer to beautiful
parts of our country where our national parks are located, it
is causing big spikes in housing costs, and we have to find a
way here to provide that housing for employees. I think the
increase in housing construction that I saw in the Park
Service's budget is a good start, but I do think we have to
look more holistically at the problem. Both the employees and
the teachers, restaurant workers, and families that serve our
gateway communities are struggling with access to housing. The
problem is most acute in places like Montana, where the
surrounding federal lands make it nearly impossible to even
expand additional housing or services. I look forward to
working with the Chairman and my colleagues to try to find more
solutions to this growing problem.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I want to turn it back to you. I
look forward to a robust discussion and the testimony from
witnesses.
Senator King. Director Sams, welcome to the Committee.
STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES F. SAMS III, DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE; ACCOMPANIED BY JESSICA BOWRON,
COMPTROLLER, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Mr. Sams. Chair King, Ranking Member Daines, and members of
the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear
before you on the Fiscal Year 2024 budget request for the
National Park Service. I would like to summarize my testimony
and submit my entire statement for the record. I would first
like to thank the Subcommittee for your support of the National
Park Service in Fiscal Year 2023. Over the past year, I have
visited parks across the country and seen firsthand some of the
challenges they are facing, like recovery from natural
disasters, adapting to increased or changing visitation, and a
need to expand the breadth of the stories that we are telling.
I have also seen and heard from our employees about how much
recent funding increases through FY23 appropriations--the
Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and
the Great American Outdoors Act--are making an impact. I thank
you for your support and I am pleased to share with you how our
FY24 budget will support continued progress.
The discretionary budget request for the National Park
Service is $3.8 billion, an increase of $289.2 million compared
to FY23 enacted funding. I want to highlight a few components
with you: conservation, racial justice, capacity, and housing.
Our request proposes an additional $110.7 million in service-
wide investments to protect resources from 21st century
threats. Fundamental to this effort is an $86.8 million
increase in operational funding to enhance natural resource
capacity, expand youth core programs, and support conservation
and improve climate risk assessments and responses for our
cultural resources. We also propose installing additional
charging infrastructure to support the transition to zero-
emission vehicles, complete climate vulnerability assessments,
and better position the agency to respond to natural disasters.
The FY24 budget proposes $32.3 million in increased
investments to advance racial justice and equity for
underserved communities, including strengthening our nation-to-
nation relationship with tribes. The budget supports an
additional $7.1 million for expanded tribal co-stewardship of
park resources, $2.5 million to increase tourism and benefits
to tribes, $2.5 million in dedicated funding for tribal
heritage grants, and $1 million for management of subsistence
uses of National Park lands and waters in Alaska. The
initiative also supports funds to improve physical and
programmatic accessibility and invests in new parks like New
Philadelphia National Historic Park and Blackwell School
National Historic Site.
The FY24 request also invests in our employees. The
National Park Service has lost almost 19 percent of its
operations capacity since 2011, as Senator King has pointed
out. Over the same period, over 30 units have been added to the
National Park system and annual visitation has increased by
more than 30 million visitors. To help meet the demand, the
budget seeks $25.4 million to support an additional 170 FTEs,
or full-time employees. This increase will address new and
critical responsibilities across the parks and bolster the U.S.
Park Police and special agents program.
Lastly, the budget proposes an increase of $7 million to
construct, improve, and modernize housing for National Park
Service employees, which remains a critical issue at parks with
insufficiently available or unaffordable housing. This will
help tremendously.
Finally, I am pleased to update you on our progress to
implement the Great American Outdoors Act. Funding from the
Legacy Restoration Fund has provided us almost $3.9 billion for
deferred maintenance. We have obligated more than $1.4 billion,
with over 70 projects underway and more starting this year.
From the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the National Park
Service has received nearly $300 million for land acquisition
activities and over $1 billion for state grant programs matched
by non-federal funds, for a total impact of at least $2
billion.
Chair King, Ranking Member Daines, this concludes my
summary. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
today and for your continued support of the National Park
Service, and I am happy to answer any and all of your
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Sams follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator King. Thank you.
And I take it you are here to answer questions. Do you have
an opening statement?
Ms. Bowron. No statement.
Senator King. Thank you.
Well, obviously, both the Vice Chair and I talked about
deferred maintenance, and there is a rule of thumb, Mr.
Director, in the private sector that you should be doing two to
four percent of the value of your assets as an ongoing
maintenance budget, otherwise, you are going in the hole. It is
hard to get a fix on what the value overall of the assets is of
the National Park Service, but it appears that we are below one
percent now in terms of what we are doing in terms of
maintenance. I guess I would start by saying defend that and
reassure me about the future. You understand the concern here.
It was not easy to get the Great American Outdoors Act through,
and in this budgetary situation, I think it would be even more
difficult, plus we don't have Rob Portman and Lamar Alexander
with us.
So let's talk about getting the maintenance budget right so
that we are not digging the hole deeper in the hopes of a
future Great American Outdoors Act.
Mr. Sams. You know, we are doing better calculations of how
we are doing the deferred maintenance. That is first and
foremost. We were not really using industry standards. And when
they looked back, in the travels across the United States, last
year alone I visited over 60 parks. I have seen more water
treatment plants than I have ever planned to see in my life,
but that is a good thing because water is extremely important
to all of our visitors, ensuring that it's cool, clean, and
potable. That being said, we also know that over the last 30 or
40 years, the maintenance cost that you had been seeing in
deferred maintenance really was just the band-aid effect,
meaning our on-the-ground maintenance staff were looking at it
on what it would take just to keep it going, rather than
looking at what it would take to do surgery on this particular
matter.
As we have calculated, it did, in fact, double in price,
and that was also a surprise to me, but I now trust the data
that actually is being inputted into the system to better
manage this issue.
Senator King. I think we should point out that suddenly
there wasn't a lot more deferred maintenance, it was a
different way of accounting for it and determining what the
amount was.
Mr. Sams. Absolutely, sir. And it was really looking at
more of the surgical approach. What will it take to really
repair this for sustainability for the next 50, 70, 80 years?
And that is why that price increased.
Senator King. But I am not--I want to focus on the boring
old operations budget and how much is in there for maintenance
ongoing, not deferred maintenance, but just maintenance so that
we are not deferring. My worry is that in this budget there is
not enough for ongoing, sustained maintenance, which is only
going to make a deferred maintenance problem get bigger in the
future.
Mr. Sams. Yes, our cyclic maintenance is an issue we are
looking at. We are going to delve more deeply into how we can
ensure that there.
Senator King. And that number is flat for the last three
years.
Mr. Sams. Yes, sir. And we have 75,000 different assets, 60
percent are very unique--you know, monuments, memorials, such
as the Statue of Liberty and others, and looking at how we do
that cyclic maintenance, we need to dig deeper in that and
figure out what those true costs are so that we can more
accurately come back to you and talk to you about that.
Senator King. Well, this budget has already been submitted.
It is going to be worked through the appropriations process,
but I sincerely urge you, in the next budget, we should see a
growth in annual maintenance in order to prevent the
development of further deferred maintenance in the future.
Mr. Sams. Yes, sir.
Senator King. Thank you.
Changing the subject, on staffing, how are you doing on
recruiting? Every business I talk to is having difficulty
recruiting. Are you able to fill these new positions that we
have authorized?
Mr. Sams. Thank you for the question, Senator.
You know, that is one of the issues that is a challenge for
us. We are using every tool available in our tool chest to be
able to recruit and bring in the best and brightest and the
most diverse workforce that really reflect who America is in
our National Park System. That being said, we do have some
impediments. The market has been very tight for all employers.
We are trying to figure out our best ways to entice folks to
come into the Service. To that end, with the great support of
the Inflation Reduction Act and the $500 million, we are
bringing in over 30 recruiters to go out and meet people where
they are at--in colleges, in trade schools--to be able to start
recruiting those folks to come in, and we are looking again at
exactly what tools we might need enhancement on and plan on
coming back and talking with you directly about that.
Senator King. I also serve on the Armed Services Committee,
and the military is having exactly the same problem, although,
interestingly, except for the Space Force. They are
oversubscribed. That does not apply, but perhaps it does in a
sense. One of the things that they are talking about is that
mission is an important part of recruitment. It isn't just
about money or benefits. And it seems to me, you are not
defending the country, but the mission of the National Parks is
something that should be attractive to young people as a
career. Is that emphasized in your recruiting efforts?
Mr. Sams. Absolutely. I think our best recruiters are folks
in uniform in the green and gray. They show and demonstrate the
passion that they have for the Organic Act and our mission as a
Service, and that does attract a lot of folks. I would say the
folks that we have recruited over the last year and the new
staff that I have met out in the field, they talk about being
mission-driven and the work that we have done since 1916 and
will continue to do. And I think that has been a very
attractive way of recruiting new members.
Senator King. My final area of concern is housing--
recruiting and housing relate, I know. In Acadia, we just
passed a land change that will allow additional housing to be
developed. I take it that this is a problem across the country
as you visit these parks?
Mr. Sams. Absolutely. The issue is really a factor of both
quantity of housing units as well as our quality. And we have
projects planned that will address rebuilding existing housing
facilities where units are in disrepair and obsolete and not
currently suitable for employees. For example, in Chaco Culture
National Historic Park, we have existing housing units that are
unlivable. A proposed line-item construction project will
demolish the existing structure and build a new multiplex unit
with a bed-for-bed replacement. At Mesa Verde National Park, a
project will rehab and stabilize existing foundations and
building envelopes of historic residences. While we address
these projects, we are also evaluating the quantity necessary
for the workforce. The housing market, as we all are very much
aware, has been a challenge for many of us in recent years,
especially due to COVID and natural disasters, and affected in
other ways of where we are at.
And so, with the increase of the $7 million, which would
bring over $15 million to allow us to do additional leasing and
upgrades in building, we are investing also nearly $100 million
in the FY24 proposed budget on the housing issue.
Senator King. You mentioned those parks, Mesa Verde and
Chaco, 20 years ago, right now, my family and I were on a
round-the-country RV trip for five and a half months, and we
visited, I think, 17 national parks, and I thought my kids were
sort of bored, but then when we went into Yellowstone and a
herd a buffalo crossed the road, they just came alive. That was
one of the highlights of the trip. So thank you for the work
that you are doing, Director Sams, and we will come back and
have a few more questions in a second round.
Senator Daines.
Senator Daines. Thanks, Chairman King.
As I mentioned earlier, last year, Yellowstone Park
suffered from flooding, which destroyed roads, bridges,
wastewater systems, and we were very fortunate to have
Superintendent Cam Sholly leading the park, because under his
leadership, a quick action plan was created, recovery began
immediately, and they got back on their feet faster than many
anticipated.
Director Sams, what actions still need to be taken at the
park for recovery, and how does your budget reflect the needs
of the park and the community to restore and prevent further
damage?
Mr. Sams. Well, first and foremost, I want to thank you all
for the $60 million in emergency relief available from the
Department of Transportation through the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law. Yellowstone was able to reconnect access
between Gardiner and Mammoth and Cooke City to Tower-Roosevelt
within months after the flood rather than years. That was
critical to that, and Cam and his team being able to implement
that--work closely with Transportation, work closely with those
gateway communities, you know, really opened up access so that
we continue to be able to be support back and forth between our
gateway communities.
The interim roads will continue to see work through this
summer, of course. Another major ongoing investment in process
is addressing temporary wastewater treatment needs at Mammoth,
particularly. In addition, with the disaster supplemental
provided by the Subcommittee for FY23, Yellowstone can begin to
work on permanent repairs needed for the roads and other
infrastructure. This is currently still estimated at $916
million. NPS is working now to develop options and more
detailed cost estimates to address the extent of the actual
infrastructure damages within the park. We don't have an
updated cost estimate at this time, though we do expect the
work to take place over the next three to five years to fully
complete it, and that will be reflected, of course, in our
operational budget for the park.
Senator Daines. Thank you. I remember shortly after the
flood I had a chance to get a helicopter tour and, in fact, I
was taking videos with my phone here and sending them to
Chairman King so he could see the damage, certainly, of the
road with that little small canyon in the Gardner River between
Gardiner and Mammoth. I mean, it's not lost on any of us, they
literally rerouted that road and went up a hillside, which took
extraordinary, first of all, quick thinking, collaboration,
building consensus on, you know, one of the iconic entryways
into Yellowstone National Park. And they pulled it off, which
is a great credit to Cam Sholly and his team and to the Park
Service for supporting.
As we have mentioned, the gateway communities were heavily
impacted by flooding. It was Gardiner. It was Cooke City. Both
were hit hard. Still recovering. I mean, we came off the COVID
pandemic through, you know, lost sales and so forth of our
hotel and our recreation industry. We were all geared up,
staffed back up, ready to go and then got hit by this flood.
Just a devastating gut punch to so many of our business there
in those gateway communities.
The question is, what actions is the Park Service taking to
work with gateway communities on flood recovery, and can you
talk any more specifically about the Mammoth to Gardiner
wastewater system?
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Senator.
Cam and his team immediately, once the flood subsided,
started engaging our gateway communities, and we continue to.
As a matter of fact, early on when we were just trying to
figure out how to bring folks in once we were able to open up
the roads, it was actually a community member who came up with
the idea of using the odd and even numbers of license plates.
So you know, that generation of ideas is extremely important to
us in our partnerships with the gateway communities. We
continue to have discussions with them around that because they
are going to help us in looking at how we can make those
roadways more resilient as they come in and out of parks.
When we look at the issues at Mammoth, that actually was
fortuitous in a strange way. We had an old wastewater treatment
system that we were able to bring back online because we had
old parts around. But we need to update, of course, and bring
in a modern system. But the old system was able to hold us over
until now as we are sending out the bids to bring in a new
wastewater treatment system.
Senator Daines. Thanks.
One of the communities that got a little less attention,
but was greatly impacted, was West Yellowstone. The roads in
and out of West stayed open, a little different drainage,
certainly, from where the Yellowstone and where the water
really hit there, coming out of the Beartooths and more in the
Yellowstone Park area. But they got hit hard because of the
decrease in attendance of the parks. I know they are also
working on wastewater improvements at West Yellowstone. So
while they aren't maybe getting as much attention, I just
encourage you to reach out and also work with that very
important gateway community there in West Yellowstone, if you
want to flag that here today.
I want to go back to the Great American Outdoors Act and
what is happening here on maintenance backlog. As Chairman King
mentioned, the fact that maintenance spending has remained flat
for the last three years in terms of the normal appropriations
process, it is very concerning, I know, to both of us.
Senator King. Flat and at a low level.
Senator Daines. Low to begin with and flat, which only digs
the hole deeper for maintenance backlog. In fact, one would
argue that with inflation, certainly, we have actually lost
more ground. And when you are holding numbers basically flat on
a dollars basis, and that just concerns us, and I know there
are a lot of competing priorities as it relates to where to
invest dollars, but I just would urge you, as you look at your
budgets, to rethink the investment in maintenance and make sure
that we are getting that. We have to be moving that number up.
And as the Chairman eloquently stated, we can't rely on
Congress to every so often bail out the parks with another big
bill here addressing, I mean, we are expecting you all to get
back to more--we talk a lot about sustainability. We need
sustainability right now in terms of our assets in our parks
and maintenance.
What actions would Congress and the Park Service need to do
to see results in reducing that growing--like doubling--backlog
number?
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Senator.
First, I want to say that, you know, the $1.3 billion that
we will receive from GAOA funding to help us with the deferred
maintenance, we are also, as far as cyclic maintenance and
others, we are investing over $970 million in the FY24 budget
to continue to tackle that so we are not continuing to see this
growth. Of course, as we bring new systems online and new parks
online, we will end up with some forms of cyclic and deferred
maintenance. But looking at it long-term, figuring that out and
coming back and having further, more robust discussions with
you all, I think, is important. We have to demonstrate, though,
to you, how we are making those investments in those most
critical areas.
Senator Daines. I can guarantee you, and I think the
Chairman has been very clear on this and I am too: if we keep
seeing flat to--with inflation, really, declining investments
in maintenance, it is going to be a recurring discussion here
in this Committee. So I just urge you to go back and look at
that.
Senator King. And not a very pleasant one.
Senator Daines. It may get less pleasant, as the Chairman
says. So I think we really urge you to take a look at that, and
we can't fund everything, so this becomes a priority question.
And I think the concern we have is to continue to make this a
high priority.
Chairman.
Senator King. Senator Cantwell is trying to get here. She
has an urgent problem, as you know, and it's in Olympic
National Park, and she will be here shortly.
A couple of other questions.
Last year, Congress created two new wild and scenic river
designations, one for the York River in Maine, the other at the
Housatonic, and also, we had two--we had a national heritage
area defined in Maine, the Downeast National Heritage Area.
Unfortunately, apparently the wild and scenic designations for
all those that came before were at a certain level, and the new
ones are at a lower level. The same for the national heritage
area. So I hope you will look at that and that there will be an
equalization at some point so that the newer designees are not
treated less robustly, less strongly than existing ones. Is
that something you can look into, Mr. Director?
Mr. Sams. Senator King, absolutely, Mr. Chairman. We have
been discussing it in my office, how we are doing that,
especially wild and scenic and national heritage areas. I am a
huge proponent of those national heritage areas. I think that
it is a great public-private partnership, where the National
Park Service is just providing, you know, technical support and
a little bit of funding, but the amazing work that is done at
the community level on the national heritage areas is extremely
impressive. And I have visited several of them over the past
year.
Senator King. Yes, we are not talking about a great deal of
money, but there is an inequality now that I think it would be
helpful to address.
Mr. Sams. Yes, sir.
Senator King. Second area, one of the major challenges
facing the parks as we come out of the pandemic, of course, is
overcrowding, is visitation, particularly at certain parks. Two
areas that I have been interested in, one is the Park Service
to publicize the less well-known parks to try to divert some
visitation. Not to say, ``don't go to Yellowstone or don't go
to Acadia or don't go to Yosemite,'' but, ``here are some great
places that perhaps you don't know about.'' You can paraphrase
Ken Burns: America's Best Idea--and some of America's best kept
secrets. So publicizing some of these lesser-known parks just
to spread the visitation somewhat.
The other is technology. Many of us use an app called
Waze--W-A-Z-E--that tells us when there is congestion ahead. I
have always thought a Waze for National Parks would be an
important contribution because if somebody could look on their
phone and say, ``well, there is a line to get into Glacier
today, so perhaps we will divert and go to another park or
another state park in the area.'' I encourage you--and I do
compliment the Park Service, which is now implementing online
app-based admission passes--but think about a way of alerting
people to congestion. That is a technology that is out there.
If they can tell you there is a truck turned over five miles
away, they can also tell you there is a long line to get up
Cadillac Mountain.
Mr. Sams. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the efforts of
both you and Senator Daines in helping us tackle that issue. I
also want to thank the National Park Foundation, who has also
been helping us with funding and looking at how we can improve
our app so that we can have more of that instream data so
people can make an informed decision, and also, how we
highlight those lesser-known parks, or the parks that haven't
been seen. We remain committed to collaborating with, of
course, local communities and tribal governments and partners
to find solutions to improve the quality and diversity of the
visitor experience. Planning and design efforts, social
science, partnerships, and pilot strategies are targeted to
support the changing visitation and desired experiences,
protecting resources, and of course, better connect visitors to
parks, including historically underrepresented and excluded
communities. We have completed approximately 30 visitor-use
management planning projects with 45 more that are ongoing.
In relation to how we are working more with electronic
passes, the National Park Service currently offers site-
specific electronic passes at 81 park sites, including Acadia,
Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Parks. Visitors
may also purchase passes online, and passes may either be
printed or reside on a visitor's mobile device. The Park
Service plans to expand the electronic passes to all 110
entrances--by the end of this calendar year. We improved our
capability for verifying passes without system connectivity,
installing cell signal boosters at some sites to improve
connectivity. We are deploying USB scanners at some sites and
working with contracted service providers to integrate scanning
and validation functions with point-of-sale equipment and
network computers.
The Park Service is preparing to issue an RFI on state-of-
the-art solutions to improve the interagency pass program by
creating an electronic interagency pass, streamlining
operations, improving access, and enhancing the customer
visitor experience for a diverse set of populations.
Senator King. If you could achieve interagency operability,
you will have achieved a great deal. But think about this
congestion mitigation app, if you will, because I believe that
is something that, again, it addresses this overcrowding issue,
not by telling people not to go, but saying, ``okay, if you
take a side trip here for a couple days, it will be a more
satisfying experience.''
Senator Daines.
Senator Daines. A couple more questions.
I want to get into this issue of Park Service housing. It
ties back to that chart that the Chairman had in terms of
staffing levels and so forth, and one of the important ways to
recruit and then retain staff is to ensure they have adequate
housing. Your budget proposes $15 million to improve and expand
Park Service housing. What is the action plan for this $15
million, and do you believe it is enough to fix the shortage of
housing and the repairs needed to make some of these homes
livable? $15 million just to service--and I grew up in the
construction business, home construction in Southwest Montana--
it just seems like a pretty low number, especially when you
think about the importance right now of trying to solve this
staffing problem.
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Senator.
The FY24 budget proposes actually over $100 million to
address employee housing in parks. This includes an increase of
the $7 million we are talking about for a total of $14.9
million for new construction or rehabilitation of existing
employee housing where local market data shows limited
availability of affordable housing for purchase or even rent.
This funding will replace obsolete and deteriorated housing or
add housing capacity at parks, including Mammoth Cave National
Park, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, and Rocky
Mountain National Park.
As part of the overall strategic approach to the issue, the
Park Service budget also proposes $32.7 million in the line-
item construction and Legacy Restoration Fund programs to
rehabilitate housing at Mesa Verde, Chaco Culture, and Great
Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Additional funds from
repair, rehab, cyclic maintenance, and quarters revenue will
also support housing that is O&M. This strategic approach
includes $2 million to support private-sector leasing for
seasonal housing in local communities first enacted in the FY23
budget. As of February 2023, parks are hoping to add more than
100 beds with this funding. And at Acadia, we will leverage the
$5 million in donations from the partners to match the
Centennial Challenge funds for construction of new seasonal
employee housing.
The Park Service is also pursuing administrative solutions
such as strengthening current policies and procedures, seeking
opportunities for public-private partnerships, and consulting
with the private sector and forming a working group of park
managers to make recommendations that we plan on coming back to
you about some additional authorities we may need in order to
have stronger public-private ventures in housing.
Senator Daines. Yes, that is another part of the solution,
certainly that partnership, no doubt.
I noticed in the budget as well, on the same line as
housing construction, you have included $4 million for climate
change studies. I understand the lay of the land is very
important, but I know if we went and tallied up all the climate
change studies going on right now across all the federal
budgets, it is a massive number. I mean, the military is doing
climate change studies. Now you have it in the Park Service
budget as well. I just think it is important, as you think
about priorities and limited resources, that providing housing
for employees and fixing this very real and living present
situation for many Montanans would be a high priority versus
yet another study, of which, I am sure if we inventoried all
the climate change studies that are proposed right now in the
federal budget, it is a long, long list. So we can't do
everything at once. I just continue to ask you to reevaluate
priorities and think that through as we go forward.
One final question on LWCF appraisals. We have heard
concerns about the length of time that land appraisals can take
at the Department of the Interior's Appraisal and Valuation
Services Office. It is a really important part of implementing
the Land and Water Conservation Fund as we work with willing
and able landowners that seek to participate. And as we know,
the biological clocks tick, and sometimes, you know, the senior
members of the family have this vision, but we get hung up in
the appraisal process and sometimes we miss windows of
opportunity to get something done. Could you comment on the
impact this has had from National Parks Land and Water
Conservation Fund work?
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Senator.
We continue to work closely with the AVSO. The Department
overall is addressing many of our concerns and we continue to
raise those concerns with them. The Department has stood up a
DOI working group that reports to DOI leadership, identifying
root causes and changes with near-term results. I will say that
building capacity, innovative recruiting, and using increased
pay rate authority is allowing us to increase the number of
appraisers. We currently have 105 on board, the highest since
the Appraisal and Valuation Services Office was created. And we
have to focus on customer service, partnering with bureaus up
front, and accelerating that process, including my bureau,
making sure that we are an active partner in that decision-
making process.
We are seeing results. In FY22, time for completed
appraisals was 169 days, below the standard of 180 days. We
completed more than 3,500 appraisals valued at over $2 billion,
but obviously, there is much more work to be done. I think we
are off to a good start.
Senator Daines. Yes.
Mr. Sams. I also want to see that, having come from
previously, where my previous work as a conservationist with
the Trust----
Senator Daines. Right.
Mr. Sams. I know how important the AVSO Office is.
Senator Daines. No, I am glad you know that and I am glad
you are scoreboarding it as well. As they say, you get what you
inspect, not what you expect. And scoreboarding is very
important in terms of laying out the numbers and keeping that
at 169. Let's drive that down further. Again, I grew up in that
business, in construction and real estate, and we need to drive
these appraisals--I know it has been a difficult time with
COVID with the backlog of appraisals, but that isn't the answer
on why we have had, you know, delays. And I think the third-
party contracting could help speed the process up. Anything
else besides, you know, whether it is third party contracting,
anything else to speed that process up, because we need to
drive it down further.
Mr. Sams. Third-party contracting is still part of our
policy and we will continue to use that. As we continue to
evaluate, I am happy to have those discussions with you again,
and look forward to having those discussions. AVSO is an issue.
We are going to tackle it. It is important to us in the Park
Service.
Senator Daines. Yes.
Mr. Sams. As you said, before things start going up, we
want to be able to act quickly.
Senator Daines. Director Sams, calling it an issue is a
very kind word. So I will leave it at that. Thank you.
Senator King. Director, I meant to say this at the very
beginning. I hope you will convey to your staff and to the
thousands of people that work for the Park Service the
compliments of this Committee for the yeoman service that they
provide to the country, to their visitors. I also want to
compliment you on your emphasis on tribal efforts that you
outlined in your opening statement, working with the tribes
across the country and the relationship with the Park Service,
I think, is very important.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which you mentioned several
times, had $500 million for additional staffing. However, it is
limited to ten years, and I hope that the Park Service begins
now to think about how to sustain that funding, whether to fold
it into the ongoing budget or what the strategy will be because
limited funding--the deadline has a way of coming. So I hope
that this is some of your planning for dealing with the ongoing
staffing needs that are being met by that law but which has a
limited duration.
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
You know, sitting to my left, I call my Comptroller my
dream maker or my dream killer, and she has been very
thoughtful in how we are implementing this money up into the
year 2030. We are looking at strategically placing folks in
parks with the money and we are figuring out how we will absorb
those and their base operations and make those requests
annually because you are absolutely right, we don't want to get
to the end and we don't want to be at a clip where we are
finally making the capacity where American people want to see
our rangers in the parks, and then all of a sudden, they are
not there anymore. I want to say Jessica and her team have
worked very closely with the operations staff, my
administrative staff, to develop our proposal and strategic way
of how we are going to move that forward.
Senator King. Thank you.
Senator Cantwell wanted to be here this morning, but has
another commitment, so I am going to follow up with a question
that she would want to be addressed this morning. As you know,
Washingtonians, recreationalists, people in the region of
Olympic National Park, are mourning the burning of the visitor
center, which burned to the ground on Sunday. It is a historic
lodge--300,000 travelers visit that landmark every year. Just
last year, Olympic National Park received $11 million of Great
American Outdoors Act funding to renovate the historic
Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. There it is. I visited myself
some years ago. Unfortunately, it was a foggy day, so I
understand there is a great view, but I did not see it.
[Photographs of the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center follow:]
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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T5521.008
Senator King. This is an important investment that was made
last year to address the park's $190 million in deferred
maintenance and an investment in the surrounding community
depending upon the rejuvenation of the visitor center to
increase access and attract more visitors to the Olympic
Peninsula region. Olympic National Park is one of the top 15
most visited national parks in the country, creates 2,700 jobs,
and visitors spend over $250 million in the Olympic Peninsula
gateway communities. Much of this spending is during the summer
tourism season, which is set to begin Memorial Day weekend at
Hurricane Ridge, just a few weeks away. Washingtonians,
particularly those living on the Olympic Peninsula, are worried
and in need of some answers. The 17-mile paved road leading
from Port Angeles to Hurricane Ridge has been closed to the
public since March 27, and while the visitors center was closed
for renovations, that stretch of road is very popular because
it has many trailheads and scenic views. Prior to the fire that
wiped out the visitor center, the road was expected to reopen
by Memorial Day weekend, as I mentioned, just a few weeks away.
The first question is, when can visitors expect the road to
Hurricane Ridge to reopen, and what are the obstacles to
reopening the road?
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
And to answer Senator Cantwell's question, I was also very
disheartened. My family and I were coming from a camping trip
on Sunday when we heard the news. I got word that the fire was
taking place. It is still smoldering as we speak. We have stood
up a small incident command team. We have investigators who
will be showing up later today so that we can look at what has
happened there and determine how the fire was started and the
cause of the fire. We are committed to figuring out what those
costs are going to be. The road will continue to remain closed
because of the safety concerns until such time that my team
there lets me know that it can reopen. We had hoped, of course,
that it would have been opened by May 25, but with the result
of this fire, it is going to take a little bit longer.
Senator King. But you are intent on getting that road open
as soon as possible, given that the road itself is an
attractive asset.
Mr. Sams. Yes.
Senator King. And you have already testified nobody yet
knows the cause of the fire?
Mr. Sams. That is correct. The investigation team is on
their way.
Senator King. And is this an investigation team that is
part of the Park Service?
Mr. Sams. Yes, it is part of our investigation team, and I
can't remember if we have outside or not.
Ms. Bowron. ATF.
Mr. Sams. Yes, we do have--who?
Ms. Bowron. Alcohol, Tobacco----
Mr. Sams. Oh, thank you. ATF is also going to be helping us
with the investigation.
Senator King. Thank you.
Senator Cantwell understands this is an evolving situation.
We are trying to get the fire out. It is still smoldering, as
you suggest. I think her final question is, what are the plans
for rebuilding? Will you commit to working with Senator
Cantwell and the park in the efforts to rebuild the visitor
center?
Mr. Sams. We are committed. We know that it is a very
popular and useful site. We are committed to rebuilding there
and we will work very closely with the Senator and the park and
the local community to figure out what we will replace it with.
Senator King. Thank you.
On behalf of Senator Cantwell, I know she will be reassured
by those statements. Thank you, Mr. Director.
Senator Lee.
Senator Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Director Sams, it is great to see you again and good to
have you in front of the Committee. I hope all is well. As you
know, you have a large influence in my state, and we have
beautiful parks under your jurisdiction and I thank you for
taking care of them.
As you are well aware, visitation at the parks in my state
remains high. This is, of course, good news, but it does
contribute to some of the challenges related to crowding at
park entrances and at popular trails within those parks,
especially at really popular parks like Zion. Stakeholders in
Washington and Kane counties in the southwest corner of my
state proactively developed a number of creative strategies to
address the crowding issues at Zion, as these are the two
counties in which Zion is found, in order to avoid the harmful
economic impacts of a timed entry system. And this is a
strategy that involves dispersing visitors to some of the
lesser-known areas within the park as well as the other trails
and attractions in the greater Zion system.
In an ENR hearing in July 2021--so not quite two years
ago--Deputy Director Mike Reynolds, who at the time was the
Intermountain Regional Director, assured me that, ``The NPS is
committed to collaborating with local communities, businesses,
and non-profit partners to find solutions that address crowding
and congestion in a thoughtful way.'' Do you agree with Deputy
Director Reynolds?
Mr. Sams. I absolutely do, sir.
Senator Lee. And can you describe your vision for what
local collaboration ought to look like in this context?
Mr. Sams. I remain committed, and the Service remains
committed in working with our gateway partners, our
communities, state leadership, and county leadership on how we
can best manage visitation within our most popular parks. And
as you pointed out, highlighting some of the lesser-known parks
so that we can get folks, but rotate them through. We are
committed to looking at and figuring out how to bring
technology to these parks and talking with our local folks on
how we can bring in that technology to manage how the roads are
currently used, how is traffic coming in and out of the park,
so folks can actually make an informed decision on when it may
be best for them to come at a later time or even a later date.
Senator Lee. Thank you. I appreciate that and I would
encourage you as you do that to just focus as much as you can
on gauging the local governments, the locals, including and
especially the local governments from the beginning, rather
than just filling them in on the details after the fact,
because they know the local patterns better than anybody else.
Having lived there, most of them, for most or all of their
lives, they know what will work and what won't. They have seen
the ebb and flow of visitors over the years.
On a different topic, Utah has had a great winter. As you
know, we get most of our water from snowpack, and this year we
have had a lot of snowfall and, in fact, we set records for
snowfall and for the resulting snowpack. While this provides
some great temporary relief, water level and continued
recreation access at Glen Canyon remains a concern in the
context of this ongoing drought we have had. Considering the
changes in the hydrology at the lake this year, how will your
recreation operations likely change relative to last year?
Mr. Sams. Thank you, Senator Lee.
We are working very closely with our partners at Glen
Canyon, along with concessionaires and trying to--the impacts.
We are very appreciative of the disaster relief money the
Subcommittee supported last year to help us with that. We are
going to bring those funds to bear to mitigate for some of
those issues, but we are committed to making sure that the
recreation is open because we understand the economic impact
that has to our community as a whole and to the users who just
wish to enjoy that particular and beautiful place.
Senator Lee. You are talking about the $26 million----
Mr. Sams. Yes.
Senator Lee [continuing]. In disaster supplemental relief
last year, which was, of course, prioritized for North Lake
Powell access. I understand several designs have been in the
works to improve and extend ramp access. Can you provide an
update on how those funds are being used?
Ms. Bowron. At Glen Canyon, there is an open solicitation
for the Bullfrog Marina relocation. That should close later
this month.
Senator Lee. Great.
Ms. Bowron. That will move that marina off the bay and onto
the main channel of the Colorado, which will really guarantee
access for years to come.
Senator Lee. And it is deep right there so that you should
be----
Ms. Bowron. Once you are on the channel, yes.
Senator Lee. And Mr. Chair, as my final seconds are ticking
down, I have one more question, if that is okay.
In 2021, the Park Service finalized a rule that enhanced
access for off-road vehicles within the park by authorizing
street-legal OHV use in the park on most paved and unpaved
roads, permitting access to 14 accessible shorelines, including
the Lone Rock Beach and Play Area. Preserving access to this is
a priority for me and for lots and lots of recreators within
the state. Now, I understand that the rule is being litigated
in the D.C. Circuit. Are you defending the rule in that
litigation?
Mr. Sams. Senator, I will have to get back to you on that
particular question.
Senator Lee. Okay.
Mr. Sams. But I want to say though that the off-roading
vehicle community has been a great partner of ours and I want
to continue to work with them and find those solutions. Most
recently, for National Park Week, I was at Cape Cod, and the
off-road vehicle folks brought over 70 people to help with the
beach cleanup. I understand that they appreciate the resource
and they are also good stewards of those resources.
Senator Lee. They are. They are. You know, I think they
are, generally, particularly those focused in this area, in the
Glen Canyon area. They have been good stewards of the land, and
this is how a lot of people access and recreate down there. And
so, it would be shutting a lot of people off if we did not have
that. So I look forward to your update on that.
Thank you. Thank you both very much.
Senator King. Director Sams, thank you so much for being
with us.
Madam Comptroller, thank you for being with us and thank
you for your important work on behalf of one of the most
important assets that this country has. It is a sacred mission
and we are delighted that you have taken on its stewardship.
Thank you again, and don't hesitate to be in touch with
this Committee at any time. It doesn't have to be a formal
hearing. If there are issues that come up as we are moving
through the process, particularly the budget process, I hope
that the Department will let us know if they encounter special
needs, perhaps such as the rebuilding of the visitor center at
Olympic National Park.
Thank you again for your testimony. We will have a week for
members of the Committee to submit additional questions. And we
look forward to our next opportunity to discuss these issues
with you.
Thank you both for being with us. The hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:00 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
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