[Awclist] ACA letter regarding NPS changes to management polciies

[Scofield, Mary]

Today’s message is about proposed changes to the National Park Service’s 
management policies. NPS is considering changes that would weaken 
fundamental park protections and threaten the integrity of our national 
parks. These changes would redefine the Park Service’s most basic 
duties, and make it easier to for the Service to allow damaging 
activities in the parks. This would steer our parks toward greater 
development, exploitation, and ultimately more degradation.

To learn more about the proposed changes, visit this page 
<http://www.npca.org/stoptherewrite/rewrites.asp> on the website of the 
National Parks Conservation Association. NPCA has prepared an analysis 
describing the potential negative impacts of the proposed changes, which 
you can review here <http://www.npca.org/stoptherewrite/analysis.asp>. 
To read the text of the proposed changes, visit this page 
<http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?projectId=13746&documentID=12825> 
of the NPS website.

The ACA has joined a coalition of organizations representing outdoor 
enthusiasts urging the Park Service to reject these proposed changes. We 
are also co-signing a letter to important Members of Congress urging 
them to oppose these changes.

Today, we invite you and your club members to submit comments to the 
Park Service telling them to abandon these potentially disastrous 
management changes. Tell NPS to commit itself to fully protecting the 
national park treasures that paddlers and all Americans love. You may 
send comments of your own creation, or you may use a version of the 
draft letter that appears below. Individual members may visit this page 
<http://www.americancanoe.org/pressroom/anstory.lasso?id=77> of the ACA 
website for a shorter version of the draft letter.

Act now to send a strong message to NPS. The comment deadline is nearly 
on us. Submit your comments by Saturday, February 18, 2006. You can 
submit your comments directly through this page 
<http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?projectID=13746&documentId=12825> 
of the NPS website, or email your comments to waso_policy at nps.gov 
<mailto:waso_policy at nps.gov>.

*Sample letter:*

* *

Mr. Bernard Fagan
National Park Service
Office of Policy, Room 7252
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Mr. Fagan:

Representing people who enjoy the outdoors in canoes, kayaks and rafts, 
the [club] wishes to express its strong concerns regarding efforts of 
the National Park Service (NPS) and Department of the Interior to revise 
the 2001 NPS Management Policies. Paddlers vehemently oppose the 
proposed changes in the 2006 draft re-write. These changes would weaken 
fundamental park protections instead of preserving the resources we 
cherish and the natural experiences parks provide. We urge you to oppose 
these changes.

The tens of millions of Americans who hike, camp, paddle, climb, bird 
watch, cross-country ski, and snowshoe turn to our national parks for 
their magnificent vistas, clean air and water, wild plants and animals, 
and natural quiet. The existing policies serve the parks well and have 
been hailed for their thorough treatment of the values for which 
national parks were established and are endeared by the American public.

The proposed changes, however, threaten the integrity of our national 
parks in significant and disturbing ways. The following aspects of the 
proposed management changes are of greatest concern to paddlers:

    * The proposed policies redefine the overarching duty of the NPS,
      eliminating references to longstanding legal mandates that clearly
      make preservation of park resources paramount;
    * Language in the existing policy that ensures park protection and
      unambiguously places conservation and resource protection as the
      agency’s primary purpose has been deleted from key sections;
    * The proposed policies would state that the agency “must balance”
      the potentially competing obligations of conservation and visitor
      enjoyment. This runs counter to the mandate of the Organic Act to
      conserve park resources and values unimpaired;
    * Instead of providing clear guidance and direction to park
      managers, the new draft reduces the clarity of the NPS mission and
      leaves too much discretion in the hands of park managers;

    * Proposed changes would make it easier to allow damaging activities
      that conflict with the mission and long-time management of the
      NPS; and
    * The proposed policies would weaken protections for air and water
      quality, wilderness, and the atmosphere of peace, tranquility, and
      natural soundscapes in parks. The new policies would steer parks
      toward greater development, exploitation, and ultimately more
      degradation.

As avid outdoor enthusiasts, we firmly support vigorous protection of 
park resources, as resource protection enhances visitor enjoyment and 
appreciation of our national treasures.

Historically, the NPS Management Policies have been revised every 10-12 
years. The last update, in 2001, was a thorough, collaborative, 
seven-year process. The hasty, current rewrite leaves little time for 
meaningful public debate and review.

Our national parks, the “crown jewels” and icons of our national and 
cultural heritage, warrant the utmost protection and diligence in any 
proposed management changes. We ask NPS to abandon the current rewrite 
of its management policies, and urge it recommit itself to preservation 
of the natural and cultural heritage that makes our recreational 
experiences in national parks so rewarding.

Thank you for your consideration of this urgent matter affecting the 
future of our National Park System.

Sincerely,

Organization

Name, Title

City, State

Paul Sanford, Director

Stewardship and Public Policy

American Canoe Association

7432 Alban Station Blvd. Suite B-232

Springfield, VA 22150-2311

Phone: 703.451.0141 ext. 20

Fax: 703.451.2245

www.americancanoe.org <http://www.acanet.org/>

/Dedicated to helping people enjoy the outdoors using kayaks, canoes and 
rafts since 1880/