[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[August 14, 2001]
[Pages 963-964]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks During a Trail Tour and an Exchange With Reporters in Rocky 
Mountain National Park, Colorado
August 14, 2001

    The President. One of the things it's important for people to 
understand, that through good management of our forests we can prevent 
forest fires. I appreciate Secretary Norton's 
work on this. I want to thank you all for helping show America that we 
can do a better job of maintaining our natural resources.
    We can thin these out and make them less prone to fire, and that's 
what we're going to see happen right now. I appreciate you giving me a 
chance to come by.
    Park Superintendent A. Durand Jones. And 
we're very proud of your support for the national parks.
    The President. I'm a big supporter. We've got $5 billion--nearly $5 
billion in the budget for 5 years to make sure these parks are 
accessible to all Americans. Fran is in 
charge of the National Park System. She is very smart and capable.
    National Park Service Director Frances P. Mainella. Thank you, Mr. President.
    The President. Otherwise, you 
wouldn't have been named. [Laughter]

[[Page 964]]

    Director Mainella. Thank you. I knew 
that. [Laughter]
    The President. But we're excited to be here. This is a beautiful 
part of the world. I'm not only going to talk about how to make sure we 
maintain our parks in a smart, capable way, like you're doing, but I'm 
also going to talk about the need to teach our children good lessons of 
character. And one way--and there's no better place to do this--I want 
to thank the Y for inviting me here to herald a program. All kinds of 
communities have character around the country, and this is a unique 
community of character. When I was a kid growing up, a lot of my buddies 
used to come up to Estes Park from Houston, Texas. I guess you've had 
families coming since 1909.
    Superintendent Jones. Yes. And Texas 
still has a large membership here with us; we get a lot of Texans. We 
love them.
    The President. That's good.
    Superintendent Jones. In fact, after 
Colorado, Texas----
    The President. I've never been here.
    Q. To Estes Park?
    The President. Never have, no. I can see why a lot of people come, 
though; it's beautiful.
    Q. We can come more often, sir.
    The President. See, he's been in Crawford, Texas. [Laughter] I'm not 
saying he's the biggest griper about the choice of where I go to work in 
the summer. He'll like it--get used to it. [Laughter]
    Director Mainella. Do you know that 
you're the first President in almost 70 years to be here at Rocky 
Mountain National Park?
    The President. I did not know that, Fran, thank you.
    Director Mainella. And we really 
appreciate that. And it's really a statement of your commitment to our 
National Park System.
    The President. I am a big believer in the Park System. We've got a 
lot of maintenance backlog, and we've got to take care of it. I know 
Fran has been doing--Gale, we're going to make a strong commitment to our parks. It's 
a really important part of the American scene.
    Director Mainella. Thank you.
    The President. And again, I want to emphasize the fact that through 
good forest management we can do a better job of containing fire. And I 
know there are some in our country that want to just, you know, let the 
forests fall apart. We're not going to let that happen in this 
administration. We're going to maintain them, and we're going to make 
sure that, if there is a fire, it does as little damage as possible.
    You're going to see a part of the strategy right here. Gale was with the western Governors this past week, and 
we've come up with a very good strategy. It enforces--reinforces our 
commitment to working with the States and the local jurisdictions to 
make sure we've got sound, smart environmental policy. Not all the 
wisdom in the world is in Washington, DC. [Laughter]
    Some in Washington think that, but not this administration. We trust 
the local folks, and our Federal Government is going to pledge to stand 
side by side with local folks. This is a collaborative effort here we're 
going to see between the private sector and the public Park System to 
maintain these forests in a good, sensible way.
    So, Jesse, let's get to work.

Note: The President spoke at 12:10 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Jesse Duhnkrack, fire management officer, Rocky Mountain National Park. 
A tape was not available for verification of the content of these 
remarks.