National park cuts could hit state hard FEDERAL BUDGET

Photographer Lance Trott of San Jose takes a shot in Yosemite. A leaked memo outlining budget cuts has raised fears over protecting the park and providing enough services to visitors. Photographer Lance Trott of San Jose takes a shot in Yosemite. A leaked memo outlining budget cuts has raised fears over protecting the park and providing enough services to visitors. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close National park cuts could hit state hard 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Park rangers in the Bay Area and throughout California would be laid off, interpretive programs would be cut and Yosemite's bears might end up with a perpetual trash banquet if the federal government does not find a deficit-reduction plan, according to a National Park Service document leaked this week.

The lack of a long-term financial plan would mean a $1.2 trillion across-the-board cut in federal spending and a 5 percent hit to the budgets of the 398 national parks, including Yosemite National Park, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore.

The cuts would be necessary in the event of what is known as the "sequester," which is a legal writ forcing cuts in federal programs in the event President Obama cannot reach an agreement with Congress on a budget plan by Friday.

Reductions in the number of rangers, campground staff and interpretive programs would mean that the shallow roots of Yosemite's towering giant sequoias could be trampled by visitors, roads would remain closed longer because of snow, toilets would be left to overflow and more garbage would be available to rampaging bears. And, while they are rampaging, bear safety programs would be cut, park officials said.

Deep concern

"We're deeply concerned about what these cuts would mean for the protection of park resources, for the experience that visitors count on and for jobs in surrounding communities," said John Garder, the budget and appropriations legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation Association, which obtained an internal park memorandum outlining some of the impacts and provided it to the media.

"One of the biggest impacts would be to rangers during the busy season," he said. "These are the men and women who are essential to what makes the park experience really special ... who tell people the uniquely American story that exists in places like Point Reyes."

Park Service Director Jon Jarvis asked the regional directors of every national park to detail how they would handle a 5 percent cut and submit the plans to the park office by Feb. 11. The leaked memo included information about several, but not all, of the parks, including Yosemite, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Mount Rainier National Park.

Biggest urban park

At about 75,000 acres, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area is the biggest urban park in the country and second in visitation, with 17 million visitors a year.

If the cuts go through, the GGNRA, which includes famous spots such as Alcatraz Island, Muir Woods and the Presidio of San Francisco, would have to cut $873,000 from its annual budget. The Point Reyes National Seashore, which includes historic Drakes Estero, where Sir Francis Drake landed in 1579, would have to dump $374,000 worth of programs and services.

As much as $8 million would be lopped out of California's national park budgets - and that doesn't include cuts to the regional office and services like the U.S. Park Police, which would also impact the state, Garder said.

Jewel in the crown

The 761,000 acres in Yosemite would probably suffer dramatically from the proposed cuts. The elimination of guided tours of the famed giant sequoias would leave the big trees open to trampling and abuse by the 35,000 tourists who come to see the grove every year, the memo said. A program to remove invasive plants throughout the park would also be eliminated, the memo stated.

Nearly 4 million people visit Yosemite every year and spend roughly $350 million, Garder said. Their spending supports 4,602 jobs in the area, including most of the jobs in Mariposa County, he said.

The cuts would probably force delays in the opening of snow-covered Tioga and Glacier roads for as long as four weeks after the winter season. Park administrators are worried that less frequent trash pickup would result in more bears lingering around campgrounds, a problem they have fought for years.

Fingers crossed

This is on top of budget reductions and cuts in services that occurred during hard times over the past decade, according to park service officials.

"We remain hopeful that Congress is able to avoid these cuts," wrote Jeff Olson, the National Park Service spokesman, in a prepared statement that said the cuts outlined in the memo are not final.

He said 280 million people visit national parks each year and their spending alone supports 247,000 jobs and produces $31 billion in economic activity, mostly in communities around the parks. The memo declared, in anticipation of the cuts, that a hiring freeze is in place and the furloughing of permanent staff is possible.

Olson said the public should be prepared for closures of campgrounds, hiking trails, visitor centers and other service reductions at "national parks, historic sites, monuments and memorials, parkways, trails, preserves and reserves, seashores and lakeshores, recreation areas and national battlefields."