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I have previously explained that:
"Next to the American Recreation Coalition, the Western States Tourism Policy Council is as well connected as any lobby organization gets when it comes influencing the management, control, pricing and access of both recreation and tourism on America's public lands."
 The recreation and tourism issues that are of greatest importance to WSTPC have long been given a central location upon Wild Wilderness' radar screen. I've made a point of watching WSTPC like a hawk, and was most disappointed when, last October, they stopped posting their monthly insider updates.
Today I consider myself fortune to have located their March 2007 Issue Bulletin posted on the Wyoming Business Council's website.
Pasted below are highlights on such topics as the President's National Parks Centennial Initiative, funding of the National Parks Tourism Office, the American Recreation Coalition's USFS listening sessions, Lyle Laverty, Recreation Site Facility Master Planning Process, and their efforts to make Gateway Communities full partners with the land management agencies.
If you want the inside scoop... read on!
Scott
--- begin quoted - excerpts only ---
WSTPC NATIONAL ISSUES BULLETIN MARCH, 2007
An e-mail service for
members of the Western States Tourism Policy Council by WSTPC
Washington, DC, Representative Aubrey King (202.251.6845), who can
provide more details on any of the issues reported here.
President’s National Parks Centennial Initiative
The President’s $2.4 billion National Park Service budget for Fiscal
Year 2008 calls for the largest increase in park operations funding
ever proposed and leveraged public-private investments that could
generate as much as $3 billion to help the Parks prepare for their
100th birthday in 2016. The proposed budget includes 3,000 new seasonal
employees, continues increases for park maintenance and targets
specific cultural and natural resource improvements. This initiative
has started with the Presdent’s recommendation of a $230 million
increase in fiscal 2008 over 2007 in park operations funding.
This is described as the first financial infusion for the President’s
National Parks Centennial Initiative. It includes $100 million in
discretionary funds for parks each year of this ten-year period and
another $100 million a year to match equivalent donations for signature
projects and programs. Combined with as much as $100 billion in private
donations, it could mean $3 billion for the parks over the next ten
years.
The National Parks Conservation Association and other environmental and
conservation organizations have strongly endorsed this initiative but
Democratic leaders of the House and Senate Resource Committees have
expressed discomfort with such reliance on private sector fundraising
to support the parks.
Interior Secretary Kempthorne is now receiving comments on this
initiative through more than a dozen “listening sessions” around the
country. The WSTPC is considering possibly submitting a statement for
the record urging that the Centennial Initiative utilize state tourism
offices in making ultimate investment decisions and that an explicit
goal of the Initiative should be to reverse more than a decade and a
half of declining visitation to the parks.
Funding for National Park Service Tourism Office
It remains a difficult challenge to convince the NPS to fund adequately
the Tourism Office. Career staff, especially in the regions, is very
resistant – almost to the point of raising questions about their
commitment to a meaningful tourism program and to tourism in the
national parks in general.
If Lyle Laverty is confirmed as the new Interior Department Assistant
Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the outlook may be more
encouraging for a greater departmental commitment for the NPS Tourism
Office.
To achieve the goal of strengthening the Tourism Office, the WSTPC
should consider organizing an industry coalition. This should include,
for example, TIA, NTA and ABA.
Regional Meetings Held for Federal Lands Recreation Issues
The American Recreation Coalition and the National Forest Foundation
have sponsored five forums around the country over the past month, with
a national forum scheduled in Washington, DC, April 30, 2007.
The Forest Service is encouraging and supporting these forums and they
are listed as co-sponsors, along with the Bureau of Land Management,
Tread Lightly, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to the sponsors of these forums: The day-long forums are
designed to solicit recommendations and challenges regarding
recreational activities on national forests and other public lands, and
to collect suggestions for addressing these concerns. Presentations
will be sought from diverse interests, including recreationists,
tourism organizations, transportation and academic interests and
others. Access issues will be one of the areas addressed -- looking at
issues ranging from the condition and trend in roads and trails on
public lands to land ownership patterns that may inhibit access to
public lands. But other key issues are also expected to be raised,
including use of new technologies to enhance visitor experiences and
manage recreation, as well as ways to link children to the outdoors.
The five regional forums attracted about 800 participants and another
150 or so are expected for the national forum on April 30th.
The WSTPC is a member of the task force planning the national forum and
will also submit comments to the national forum based on the findings
and recommendations of the 2005 WSTPC Reno Forum on Recreation on the
National Forests and BLM Lands.
Forest Service Recreation Site Facility Master Planning Process
For the past 2-3 years, the Forest Service has been engaged in an
appraisal of campgrounds and other recreation facilities throughout the
national forests to determine which are satisfying public demand in a
cost-productive manner and which are questionable investments of agency
staff and financial resources. Some in Congress and elsewhere have
severely criticized this process as one that will lead to a shutdown of
recreation facilities without sufficient public or Congressional input.
The agency has insisted that this master planning process is not a
decision process, but rather is an analysis tool to assess the changing
demand for recreation facilities on national forests and what options
may exist to respond to these changes.
In response to these criticisms, the Forest Service has created a
National Review Team to look at the master planning process to make
sure there is sufficient public involvement. The WSTPC’s Todd Davidson
is a member of this review team. The task force has been asked to make
its recommendations by April 2nd.
Gateways Bill
The Gateways Bill was not passed by the 109th Congress in its one week
lame duck session in December. Congressional leadership decided not to
take up any legislation in the lame duck not already passed by both
houses of Congress. The Gateways Bill had passed the House of
Representatives but not the Senate.
Although the Gateways Bill was not enacted, its goals and principles
have arguably prevailed through administrative and regulatory actions
by the Federal land agencies. Since the Gateways Bill was first
introduced five years ago, the importance of gateways and of better
relations between the Federal land units and their neighboring
communities have increasingly shaped agency policies and programs.
Perhaps the best example was the adoption in August, 2006, of the
National Park Service Management Policies, which explicitly recognizes
the critical importance of gateways and of park managers working
closely with gateway communities.
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