National park cuts detailed in memos

National park cuts detailed in memos

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Visitors to America’s national parks will encounter fewer rangers, find locked restrooms and visitors centers, and see trashcans emptied less often if 5 percent across-the-board cuts are enacted by sequestration.

A National Park Service internal memo obtained by The Associated Press compiles a list of cuts in services in parks from Cape Cod to Yosemite. It’s the result of an order by Park Service Director John Jarvis in January that asked superintendents to show how they will absorb the funding cuts.

Most of the park system’s $2.9 billion budget is for fixed costs such as salaries and utilities, so the $112 million in cuts would slash programs. Those on the block include invasive species eradication in Yosemite, student education at Gettysburg, and comfort stations on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi.