National parks merit more

Miami Herald: As the American national-park season gears up, the park system's stewards, Interior Secretary Gale Norton and National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, are getting an earful over the state of the parks, monuments and historic sites they oversee. Everything from inadequate maintenance to poor air quality has people upset.
For instance, Florida's Nathaniel Reed, a former assistant interior secretary, joined other former National Park Service officials to write a letter to Norton. Citing air and noise pollution and animal disruption, they argue against the Bush administration's persistent push, in defiance of a federal court order, to keep high numbers of snowmobiles operating in Yellowstone, the first national park.
And a group of park service veterans formed the Coalition of Concerned National Park Service Retirees to lobby for increased funding and to challenge the policies of Norton and Mainella. They oppose proposed budget cuts that would reduce staff and slow much-needed maintenance. Mainella recently backed away from proposals to close some parks on high-visitor days and cut ranger interpretive tours.
Congressional role
In all fairness, it is Congress that is most to blame for under-funding national parks. To help remedy this, Florida Democratic Sen. Bob Graham has joined with Wyoming Republican Sen. Craig Thomas to call for a $190 million increase to the park service's budget and another $50 million for security at parks, historic sites and monuments. Thomas also proposes that the park system retain 80 percent of its entrance fees to fund tourist projects.
These measures make sense, even in a year when every federal agency is supposed to tighten its belt thanks to the combined ill effects of federal tax cuts and costs of the Iraq war. The proposed increase for parks -- $240 million in all -- is a blip in a $2 trillion-plus budget but it would be a major boost for cash-starved parks.
That said, it's time for Norton and Mainella to take some positive actions, too. For starters, the administration should drop its push to increase snowmobile use in Yellowstone. It's wasting tax money on legal fees that would be better spent on devising methods to improve air quality in older parks like the Great Smoky Mountains, where the smoggy haze gets thicker every year. The former park service workers want Mainella to better protect many parks' water supplies in light of private land owners' demands.
After all, Congress might be more inclined to increase funding if it could be assured that the parks' two primary stewards would use the money only to protect and enhance our great national treasures.