Sequestration refers to the across-the-board budget cuts that will take effect on March 1st - unless an agreement on deficit reduction can be reached beforehand. This "gimmick" was agreed upon by both the president and congress several months ago in order to force both sides to come to some agreement on spending reductions.
This blog posting will focus on the impact sequestration will have on national parks. Most importantly, it will focus on a leaked memo from National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, which makes very little sense from my perch.
First off, let me show three graphs to help explain where we are, and where we've come from in terms of spending. The first graph shows total federal spending since 1999. The analysis begins with this year because 1999 was the first year I could find NPS budget figures. For all three graphs 2013 figures are current estimates. The following federal spending data comes from the Whitehouse website, and the figures quoted are in trillions:
As you can see, spending at the federal level has risen sharply over the last several years. However, increases in spending on national parks have been relatively modest. In fact, the National Park Service budget has seen small declines every year since 2010. The following graph shows the total NPS budget authority, which was compiled using data from the NPS Budget History, and the NPS Green Book. The numbers quoted here are in billions:
To look at this data a little differently, here's a chart showing total NPS budget authority as a percentage of total federal spending. As you can see, the NPS share of the overall pie has been getting smaller over the last decade (which simply means the rest of the federal government is growing much faster than the NPS budget):
Late last month the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees published a leaked memo from National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, which stated that the NPS should assume a 5% decrease in the 2013 budget as a result of the impending sequestration. I find this figure to be a little curious. The sequestration calls for a cut of $85 billion to the 2013 federal budget, which amounts to only a 2.24% decrease in the overall federal budget.
Moreover, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, only $44 billion would actually be cut out of the 2013 budget. This is due to the sequestration taking effect on March 1st, which is already 5 months into the federal fiscal year which began on October 1st. This means only 1.16% of the 2013 budget is scheduled to be cut if sequestration goes into effect.
So why is Jarvis stating that 5% needs to be cut from the NPS budget? Or, why would the president decide to cut NPS funding at a higher rate than the rest of the budget?
A budget cut of 1.16% would reduce the National Park Service budget from $2.97 billion, down to $2.94 billion. A cut of 2.24% would reduce the NPS budget down to $2.90 billion. Even if we were to assume that the NPS Director is correct (which I don't), a cut of 5% would draw the NPS budget down to $2.82 billion - which is still higher than the amount that the NPS spent in 2008, or any year before that.
So when I see headlines from the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees that reads "Sequestration Budget Cuts Would Turn National Parks Into Ghost Towns", or from the National Parks Conservation Association; "Proof Positive: Our National Parks Are in Peril", I can't help but be a little skeptical.
Then, when I read things like "all national parks should be prepared for reduced hours and fewer services", or "NPS said cuts could include closing of campgrounds and hiking trails. Interpretive programs could also be curtailed" or "If these cuts go into effect, it appears they will harm every one of the 398 parks and monuments in the system as well as park rangers, tourism-dependent businesses and communities, and the millions of Americans who rely on national parks for affordable vacations", I can't help but conclude that these organizations and news media outlets are simply using scare tactics to get cash-strapped Americans to pony up more tax dollars.
I'm calling BS on all this. Certainly there are many smart people in NPS management that can figure how to operate off the same amount of money they were receiving just a couple of years ago. And, for that matter, the same goes for all the other agencies and programs in Washington DC, whose special interest groups are likely using the same scare tactics.
Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
3 comments:
I work for the DOD and they are telling us to plan on 4 day work weeks from April until September. Money only comes into federal agencys once a year, October. So most equipment and supplies ar ebought early or late. Programs being cut back or wiped out due to budget restrictions are a real thing. It is hard to say because it hasn't actually happened yet, so it might be over blown and I do hope it is.
Daniel - First off, I definitely don't want to see anyone lose their job. However, I really believe that all this talk of how bad it will be if these cuts are enacted is truly overblown. The managers for each of these agencies being impacted have to be smarter in what they cut.
For example, there's a recent report of the Postal Service spending millions to send execs to a conference in San Francisco - even though they're losing billions of dollars.
Or how about the infamous General Services Administration conferences in Las Vegas and Hawaii in recent years.
Both you and I could probably cite dozens and dozens of other examples (the ones we actually hear about!).
If anyone loses their jobs, or if basic services are cut, the American public has no one to blame but the political leaders and the managers of these government agencies that allow our tax dollars to be wasted.
Jeff
I agree. I am a GS employee and have not say in how the budget is spent. I will be loosing 1/5 of my pay and treatment at my clinic will be cut. My hospital can't cut contracts with contractors, or equipment maintainers. Every cent in the budget is spoken for before it is produced, or in this case threatened to be taken away. The Military's substance abuse director and preseptor's confrence have in San Diego (where Naval Drug and Aklcohol Abuse Counselor School (NDACS) is located) was cut well before the talks about sequester. Either way it is a self inflicted wound and bad however you look at it. Hopefully I can afford to take advantage of my "free time" and fish more.
It is a good topic to bring up Jeff, and thanks for your view.
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