Yellowstone Park’s Budget Lags Behind Costs Gao Study Should Help Ease Criticism, Park Officer Says

The budget for Yellowstone National Park has not kept up with the park’s growing costs, according to a federal study.

The study conducted by the General Accounting Office found the park has seen its costs increase by $4 million in the last three years when its budget grew by just $2 million.

The study requested by U.S. House leaders should help ease congressional criticism that the National Park Service failed to make the most of its annual increases, said Don Striker, Yellowstone’s chief budget officer.

“I think the folks who asked GAO to do this study didn’t really believe that there has ever been a hole in our budget over the last decade,” he said. “They see a very simple picture of the world … and tend to forget about the fact that inflation eats up most of the increase we’ve seen while additional mandates get piled on.”

The study found the Park Service’s budget has not kept up with inflation at a time when more people are visiting national parks.

But the report was also critical of the agency’s budget process, saying it makes it difficult for Congress to determine whether money is being spent as intended. It found that the Park Service lacks a system that holds its managers accountable.

At the same time, the report said the agency has tried to make itself more accountable for spending.

Striker said the Park Service’s overall budget has grown by almost 30 percent since 1985, but during the same period 35 units have been added to the national system and visitation was up almost 20 percent.

“If you adjust for inflation, you see that our budget has grown by 4 percent in the last decade,” he said. “And that’s before you even start discussing the new things we’re doing, how we’re dealing with (Yellowstone) visitation that’s grown by 30 percent in that same time.”

Yellowstone Superintendent Mike Finley has decided to close a campground and two museums to offset a budget shortfall. The study found that 11 of 12 parks reviewed made significant cuts in visitor services to deal with shortfalls.

It also found that the Park Service failed to address problems such as a decaying infrastructure and reductions in the number of rangers to help visitors.

The Park Service’s planning process does not establish expectations for meeting the needs and does not contain any way to determine whether progress has been made on solving the problems, the GAO said.

The Park Service’s budget process also fails to connect specific needs with budget requests or prioritize needs, investigators said. “As a result, critical issues that are expressed as priorities in planning documents may not be funded when spending decisions are made,” the report said.