If a proposal by President George Bush goes through, the National Park Service has the potential to reap a windfall of federal and private funds over the next ten years in anticipation of its 100th year of existence.
The nation's parks could see up to $3 billion by 2016 for revitalization and capital improvements if Congress decides to appropriate funds proposed by the President.
The funds are a part of the President's National Park Centennial Initiative. The initiative calls for $1 billion to be added on to the Park Service's budget by 2016.
It also challenged private companies and philanthropic organizations to donate $1 billion to the Park Service, which would then be matched dollar for dollar by more federal funds. If this challenge is met, the National Park Service would receive a total of $3 billion dollars by the time of its centennial.
It is still unclear how much of this money will be seen by Washington area parks.
Bill Line, spokesperson for the National Capital Region Parks, said that, after receiving reports from all regions across the country, the President will decide where the money should go.
"We are still very, very early in this process," Line said.
But, according to Line, the report that was issued by the National Capital Region Parks to the central office in Washington suggested that some of the Centennial funds be used to improve the Potomac Gorge area in Great Falls National Park.
After the report reaches the National Park Service's Washington office, it will be given to the Department of the Interior which will then, in turn, present its own report to President Bush.
THE NATIONAL CAPITAL Region Parks held a forum late last month at the Women In Military Service Memorial in Arlington to garner public input on what should be done with all that money. Other national park regions throughout the country held similar forums.
The director of the National Capital Region Parks, Joseph Lawler, said that the forums were being held to hear the public’s suggestions as to how this money should be spent.
"We want to engage the public and get ideas for the shaping and sustaining of the National Parks," Lawler said.
The forum was attended by a mix of parks employees and private citizens who wanted to voice their concerns about how the money should be spent.
Peter Dessauer, an architect with the Park Service at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, said that something needs to be done about private builders encroaching on the boundaries of the parks.
"We are under siege at Harpers Ferry by developers," he said. "It’s visual pollution."
Several of those at the forum were concerned that the lack of publicity for the event prevented it from being truly representative of the public’s wishes for the future of the National Parks.
"Why is this being fast-tracked?" one forum attendee asked Park Service officials.
Lawler did not attempt to deny that the forum was under-publicized. But he attributed this to the extremely tight deadline that the Park Service was working under.
Lawler said that a report of the comments from the forum had to be delivered to the Department of the Interior less than a week after it concluded.
The public’s concerns will then be used by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne in drafting a list of National Park projects to be accomplished by the centennial. Kempthorne is scheduled to submit his report to the President on May 31.