NPS Mission - National Park Service

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National Park Service FY 2013 Budget Justifications Overview FY 2013 Park Operations “Every day, America's national parks -- from the smallest historic sites to the largest natural spaces -- contribute to our Nation's collective health and spirit. These places preserve our unique history and iconic symbols. They protect ecosystems and serve as reservoirs of biodiversity. They are sources of natural sounds, clean water, and fresh air. Our parks provide accessible, safe, and affordable places to appreciate the bounty of our land. They offer opportunities for wholesome outdoor recreation, which can improve the health and vitality of all Americans.” President Barack Obama, Presidential Proclamation, April 2011 The mission of the NPS is to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” This mission is achieved through the efforts of each of the 397 park units and enabled by each park’s operating base funding. This base funding is under the direct control of the park superintendent, who operates the park within the broad policy guidance of the NPS Director and in conformance with authorizing legislation in order to achieve the park’s core mission responsibilities. From protecting cultural treasures, such as Statue of Liberty National Monument; the Gettysburg National Military Park; and the newly established Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, to preserving the open spaces and irreplaceable resources of magnificent natural wonders such as Grand Teton National Park; Glacier National Park; and Denali National Park and Preserve, the foundation of the NPS lies within these timeless places themselves. The National Park Service is dedicated to maintaining the character and integrity of these locations and ensuring they will continue to be enjoyed for generations to come. Within the activity Park Management, park operations are categorized into subactivities that demonstrate how the parks spend operational funding on critical functions. These subactivities are Resource Stewardship (which includes Natural and Cultural Resource Stewardship), Visitor Services, Park Protection, Facility Operations and Maintenance, and Park Support. The following pie chart demonstrates the park base obligations from FY 2011. In FY 2011, the National Park Service obligated $1.3 billion in park base operations; of the total park base obligations, $54.4 million was for cultural resources stewardship, $96.1 million for natural resources stewardship, $205.6 million for visitor services such as interpretation and education, $224.5 million for park protection such as law enforcement, $453.5 million for facility operations and maintenance, and $267.8 million for park support. All national parks are unique. They are parkways with hundreds of miles of road; they are canyons that are miles deep; they are monuments and memorials built with thousands of pounds of stone; they are caves, trails, lakes, beaches, and rivers; they are covered in desert sand or feet of snow or thousands of trees; and they are abundant with marine and land plants and animals. Due in part to these differences, each park has its own set of priorities and manages its park operational budget according to the best interests of the park, its visitors, partners, community, and its resources. For example, a park may use ONPS-109 Park Support 21% Facility Operations & Maintenance 35% Visitor Services 16% Park Protection 17% Natural Resource Stewardship 7% Cultural Resources Stewardship 4%
National Park Service FY 2013 Budget Justifications base funding to excavate a newly discovered archeological site or rescue a stranded sea turtle. Some parks may create a partnership with a local school district and develop in-class lessons between a ranger and a teacher to teach children about the significance of the park and how it relates to what they are studying in history or science; or increase patrols in an area where poaching has been reported or perform search and rescue missions. Maintenance functions using park base funding may include painting, repairs, mowing, janitorial work, and other daily operations; as well as other cyclic maintenance projects funded from the park base. Meanwhile, support functions involve the daily operations of park management, which supports all functional areas to manage, prioritize, and strategically plan for the short- and long-term effectiveness of the park’s mission. While all parks face their own challenges, collectively, national parks are responsible for tremendous economic benefits to local businesses and surrounding communities. In 2010, the contribution of park visitor spending to the national economy was more than $31 billion dollars; for every $1 invested in the NPS in 2010, approximately $10 in gross sales revenue was generated, as well as $4 of economic benefit. Visitor spending, when combined with the effects of NPS employee spending, supported 300,000 jobs outside the NPS. Many national parks are located in areas of the country that are rural or isolated in nature; so the positive economic impact of these parks is crucial to the survival of the surrounding communities. FY 2013 PARK BASE OPERATIONS FUNDING As noted above, the fundamental purpose of the NPS is to conserve park resources while providing a safe and enjoyable visitor experience for present and future generations. In the context of the on-going government-wide efforts to reduce federal spending, the NPS has made many adjustments to operate more efficiently over the past few years, while still meeting this mission. This includes re-focusing funding on programs with the closest, most basic ties to the NPS mission; exploring and implementing management efficiencies; and undertaking administrative cost savings. Though funding for the main operating account of the National Park Service has stayed fairly level over the past few years, nonpersonnel fixed costs and other requirements have grown. Congress has entrusted the NPS with additional responsibilities in recent years. Three new units were added in 2009 (President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site, River Raisin National Battlefield, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial) and two new units were added in 2011 (Fort Monroe National Monument and Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park). The NPS expects increased visitation at many park units during the Civil War Sesquicentennial (2011-2014) and the Centennial (2016). These new responsibilities and ongoing commemorations reaffirm the NPS’ role as one of the most visible, and positive faces of the Federal government. Nevertheless, the fiscal realities faced by the Nation required careful consideration in crafting the FY 2013 budget, which proposes a total of $21.6 million in park operational decreases. To achieve the proposed reduction in park operations while maintaining the highest possible levels of resource protection, visitor services, and facility maintenance, the NPS would engage various strategies. A crucial factor would be flexibility in developing park specific implementation strategies, due to the distinctive mission, set of resources, level of visitation, environment, ecosystems, partnerships, community, and staff levels at each of the 397 park units. In an effort to reduce costs and minimize negative impacts on visitors, parks may limit the use of certain areas, such as campgrounds and facilities, for longer periods of time and reduce or adjust hours of operations and visitor services in times of low visitation and during shoulder seasons. Some savings may also be achieved by reducing utility usage, limiting maintenance and other supplies, and reducing frequency of cleanings or repairs. Parks that are unable to cut hours or visitor services during low visitation seasons, however, may need to resort to reducing the number of seasonal employees hired during peak visitation. While seasonal employees are critical to providing expanded visitor services during high visitation seasons, they are also a significant source of park expenditures and provide more fiscal flexibility than permanent staff. Seasonal reductions would result in fewer interpretive and educational programs and fewer operational maintenance activities, such as restroom cleaning, lawn mowing, trail maintenance, trash pick-up, and ONPS-110
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NPS Mission - National Park Service

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