Park Service retirees irked over Olympic cutbacks
Published 12:01 am Sunday, June 18, 2006
Olympic National Park isn’t immune to all the red ink in Washington, D.C.
The park, like others across the nation, has cut back on emergency and law enforcement personnel.
The cuts will most likely translate into increased crime rates and slower response times to visitors who need assistance, according to the Coalition for National Park Service Retirees.
“Our intention here is not to be alarmist, but to ensure that American citizens and lawmakers know the facts,” said former Shenandoah National Park Superintendent Bill Wade, a member of the coalition’s executive council.
Wade’s comment was in a prepared statement released Thursday that announced the results of the coalition’s April study on 37 national parks.
The group consists of 515 retired National Park Service employees.
Fewer rangers in Olympic
Since 2004, Olympic National Park reported losing three permanent full-time and seven seasonal law enforcement rangers.
That meant that in two years, the park’s law enforcement personnel was reduced more than 25 percent.
Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said the number of law enforcement rangers has increased since data was gathered for the study, but added that an exact number wasn’t readily available Friday afternoon.
“We’re just wrapping up our seasonal employee and volunteer training,” Maynes said.
More than 100 seasonal staff and volunteers are working in the park this summer on tasks from facility maintenance to law enforcement, she said.
But the park did report in the coalition’s study that 15 seasonal positions have been cut.
Maynes said the park is also operating with between 24 and 28 permanent positions unfilled.
“There’s not as many educational programs or back-country rangers, but we’re striving to do the best with what we have,” she said.
The park’s budget has increased by almost $1 million over the last three years, from $10.1 million to $10.9 million.
“The budget line has continued to go up, but the cost of doing business is . . . a sharper slope,” Maynes said.
It’s not just the price of utilities that are increasing, but also personnel costs, she said.
The new federal employee retirement plan and required pay increases have taken their toll on the number of personal the park can afford, she added.
