Changes ahead for U.S. national parks?

There were the attempts to gain approval for oil and gas leases to be auctioned near the boundaries of Utah’s Arches National Park. And the uranium-mine project a couple miles from a visitors center in Grand Canyon. The return of snowmobiles in Yellowstone. And permitting visitors to carry concealed weapons within park boundaries.

The Bush administration kept the National Park Service’s operating budget intact, Interior Dept. spokesman Chris Paolino has been reported as stating, yet its policies made the administration unpopular with environmentalists and left the parks service “demoralized,” according to a Los Angeles Times article: “Bush legacy leaves uphill climb for U.S. parks, critics say.”

Now, following an era in which conservation and preservation often took a back seat to commercial and energy-related interests, are changes to come? In all probability, yes. “A hint of the new administration’s approach came on President Obama’s first day in office, when he put on hold a number of controversial, last-minute environmental rules rushed in by Bush administration officials,” reported staff writer Julie Cart in the article.

Along with the aforementioned article, don’t miss the interesting audio slideshow on the subject, narrated by Cart with photographs of national parks by L.A. Times staff photographer Mark Boster.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 2:05 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Arizona, Colorado, Eco-Travel, Montana, National Parks, News, Tips & Advice, Outdoors & Adventure, Utah, Wyoming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.