Legacy: The Crisis in Our Parks

Though visitors to state parks equal that of national parks, the well-being and very existence of state parks across the country is in jeopardy, according to Legacy: The Crisis in Our Parks, a report by the National Park Trust, being released today, the anniversary of the National Park System.

The report identified the most threatened state parks in the U.S. and ranked the top ten states with the most severely threatened parks. Georgia topped the list, with several parks including the Etowah Indian Mounds. It is followed by North Carolina, Minnesota, Nevada, West Virginia, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Montana.

The National Park Trust's research found that over 90,000 acres in the state parks are currently threatened by overuse, traffic, adjacent commercialism, encroachment, rapid land development, ever rising land values and privately owned land within the parks' boundaries.

"If these trends continue, park visitors may one day find interstate highways, residential areas and shopping developments completely surrounding their parks," said Paul Pritchard, President of the National Park Trust.

The report also calculated what states have the least amount of preserved land per person. Rhode Island has the worst ratio of parkland per capita followed by Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa.

"This year's Legacy 2000 report by the National Park Trust is an important signal to all Americans to respond to this call to action to protect and defend our magnificent natural heritage," said Senator John McCain.

Examples of the most threatened parks include:

· Blackwater Falls, West Virginia - Governor Underwood recently negotiated a deal with a developer to build condos on the canyon rim. The housing would be accessed through park roads, creating even more traffic in the park.

· Rosebud Battlefield, Montana - This site of a historic battle led by General Custer is threatened by potential development of the portion of the battlefield that is privately owned.

· Wormsloe Park, Georgia - The current construction to add two more lanes to the park road is creating significant noise and air pollution.

Although Congress nearly three decades ago created the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the purpose of acquiring private land, Washington has been slow to make more than $5 billion allocated to the fund available for use by federal, state and local park officials.

The fund accumulates almost $900 million each year from excise fees placed on oil exploration on the outer Continental Shelf. However, Congress must approve annually the amount of funds that can be withdrawn. In recent years, Congress has approved only a fraction of the funds needed to acquire private lands. Currently, the U.S. Senate is considering House-passed legislation -- the Conservation and Reinvestment Act -- that would help allocate the much-needed funds. However, Senate passage is unlikely and President Clinton has threatened to veto.

The report also looked at the 20 national parks identified by the National Park Service in the first Legacy report as the most threatened. These national parks were the most threatened due to the government's failure to purchase privately owned land within the parks' boundaries. The National Park Service requested $70.5 million to acquire privately owned lands in the 20 parks, yet only received $44.4 million. The National Park Trust gave Congress a "D" for this huge shortfall that has left many of these parks largely unprotected. For several of these jeopardized national parks, Congress failed to allocate any money including Antietam National Battlefield (MD), Blue Ridge Parkway (NC & VA), Wrangell-St. Ellis National Park (AK), North Cascades Complex (WA), Golden Spike National Historic Site (UT), Olympic National Park (WA) and Mojave National Preserve (CA).

"Visiting a park is supposed to be relaxing experience. But, as development puts more and more pressure on our parks, you're more likely to see a strip mall or a housing development as you stroll through what once was a pristine area," said Paul Pritchard, President of the National Park Trust.

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The National Park Trust is the only land conservancy dedicated to preserving America's national system of parks, wildlife and historic monuments.

The full report is available at www.parktrust.org. For a hard copy of the report or to arrange an interview, please call Susan Hawley of the National Park Trust at (202) 548-0500.