Anyone who has visited our national parks for a number of years knows something’s wrong.

In some parks, routine maintenance of trails and buildings goes begging. In others, roads aren’t fixed regularly. In some of these same parks and still others, visiting hours and services have been cut. This, despite pledges from National Park Service Director Fran Mainella that her agency would provide “outstanding visitor service” and protect resources.

In a time when spending for war and homeland security saps the federal budget, no one should be surprised that there’s less to go around for “extras,” such as the purchase and maintenance of federal lands for recreation. But the problem of underfunding dates to well before the war on terror. For years, this country has shortchanged accounts needed to maintain and upgrade our national forests and parks. Now, in an effort to address a maintenance backlog of $13 billion to $16 billion, Congress is studying a bill that would make user fees to hike, swim or camp a permanent part of the summer recreation experience.

Some claim such fees are double taxation because they already pay for their outdoor experiences through their taxes. But that argument denies reality. This country is loving its parks and forests to death. Without a strong infusion of new money, supervisors of our public lands don’t have the ability to maintain infrastructure and service.

Reluctantly, we support this legislation that would make permanent pilot programs for charging fees in some places, including the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument in Washington state. And that would extend the option to charge for recreation on federal lands that now are free.

Our hesitancy to fully embrace this proposal has two fountainheads: We are wary that a future Congress or administration would use the new revenue as an excuse to divert dollars now budgeted for federal recreation land elsewhere. We also believe this administration has a credibility problem in dealing with national parks.

Earlier this year, the Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees challenged the rosy picture painted of our parks by administration officials. In a survey of 12 national parks, the coalition found: budgets were down in most; employee levels were down in all; six parks had cut visitor center hours; all six historic parks in the survey were allowing key facilities to deteriorate; and nine had made cuts that will result in reduced service to visitors, including eliminating law enforcement positions.

Americans cherish their national parks and forests. Even in time of war, we can’t allow them to disintegrate..