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When the pro-motorized, pro-development, American Recreation Coalition joins forces with the Outdoor Industry Association, the Wilderness Society, the National Parks and Conservation Association, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and others to hash out compromise legislation for our National Parks, strange things can happen.
With respect to the management of America's National Parks, there are few points of intersection between the interests of the American Recreation Coalition and the interests of organizations representing pro-environmental positions. The ARC is this nation's most vigorous advocate for commercializing, privatizing and motorizing our National Parks. President Bush's National Park Centennial Initiative has been crafted so as to advance the recreation industry's agenda.
Fortunately for the parks, there is a competing Centennial Initiative. It has been introduced by Representatives Rahall and Grijalva and unlike the President's proposal, theirs is a genuine effort to protect and enhance the National Parks for the benefit of the people of this nation.
There are few points of intersection between the President's Initiative and the one written by Rahall and Grijalva. One initiative is good, the other is bad. One should be supported by friends of parks, the other should be denounced, fought and killed. Unfortunately, that is not what is happening.
Name-brand conservationists are working with the enemies of parks. They are not advocating for the passage to the GOOD legislative proposal which has been written and introduced. They are writing compromises.
Read on to learn about the tentative deal hashed out between the American Recreation Coalition and representatives of the conservation community.
Read on to learn about a proposal that would fund the National Park Centennial Initiative using receipts generated from SALVAGE TIMBER SALES.
Scott
--- quoted from ---
FEDERAL PARKS & RECREATION
NOVEMBER 30, 2007
TENTATIVE DEAL IN WORKS FOR NPS CENTENNIAL CHALLENGE
House leaders and the Interior Department are nearing a tentative
agreement on legislation (HR 3094) to implement a billion dollar
National Park System Centennial Challenge program, FPR has learned.
Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne personally worked on an agreement
this week with majority and minority staff members of the House Natural
Resources Committee and interest groups. And he discussed the
legislation with committee leaders.
The agreement would likely be based on a new Democratic committee staff
draft of legislation (HR 3094) that describes a program to upgrade the
National Park System, outside of core operations. The staff draft
closely parallels the recommendations of interest groups.
At press time the staff draft was being reviewed by committee
Republicans, the Interior Department and a broad coalition of interest
groups. Supporters hope to move a bill through the House committee
this year.
As always, the biggest hurdle is money. The Interior Department had
recommended the committee use three sets of energy program savings to
pay the $100 million per year price tag. But because of Congressional
budget scoring rules much of that money cannot be counted.
For now some of the parties are positive. "I'm hoping if push comes to
shove we may be able to do it (gain enactment) this year," said Tom
Hill, legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation
Association (NPCA.)
If the money problem can be resolved, backers may persuade
Congressional leaders to attach the bill to an omnibus appropriations
bill next month.
So the game plan at press time was this: Complete a committee draft in
the next few days. Take that draft to the players and seek
recommendations for revenue sources. Then hope that the Democrats and
Republicans will accept revenue sources that their natural
constituencies don't care for.
"The completed draft will leave us with a piece of legislation that we
want enacted and can go find a way to pay for," said Derrick Crandall,
president of the American Recreation Coalition, which represents the
recreation industry and recreation users. "It's strategically
important to have a product before we ask anyone to buy it."
A Democratic spokeswoman for the committee would only say, "The
committee does not comment on ongoing negotiations." But a Republican
spokesman for the committee said the draft is not a finished product.
"Finding offsets to pay for the legislation is going to be a major,
bipartisan obstacle," he said. "It looks like a lot of work is still
going to have to be done."
Effectively, three versions of legislation designed to provide NPS a
billion or more dollars to prepare parks for its centennial are under
consideration. All three would implement a Centennial Challenge
program that is at the heart of an administration Centennial Initiative
to prepare the parks for the 2016 centennial.
An initial bill from the Interior Department (S 1253, HR 2959) would
pay for the Centennial Challenge with $100 million per year in
guaranteed off-budget funding matched by up to $100 million per year in
contributions from nonfederal partners.
Subsequently House Natural Resources Committee chairman Nick Joe Rahall
(D-W.Va.) and subcommittee on National Parks chairman Raśl Grijalva
(D-Ariz.) introduced a second bill, HR 3094, that would finance the
program from up to $100 million per year in fees charged by Interior
Department agencies to commercial users and lessees of federal lands.
The third bill is a variation on HR 3094 and was developed by House
Democratic staff members based on recommendations from a broad alliance
of interest groups operating as the National Park Centennial Network.
Craig Obey, vice president for Government Affairs for NPCA, is the lead
signatory for the interest group draft.
The alliance includes groups varying from NPCA to the powered
recreation industry as represented by the American Recreation Coalition
to the human-powered recreation industry as represented by the Outdoor
Industry Association to environmental groups such as The Wilderness
Society to park advocates such as the Coalition of National Park
Service Retirees and to concessioner reps such as the National Park
Hospitality Association.
Reaction to the staff draft has been positive. Said Hill of the NPCA,
"I think people have reacted positively," he said. "I can't speak for
other interests and I have to use conditional adverbs because I'm not
in position to talk for others, but I think the reaction was fairly
positive."
Crandall described the staff draft as a "very good overture."
In the last week the Interior Department, Democrats and Republicans on
the House Natural Resources Committee, and the National Park Centennial
Network have attempted to reach agreement on how to pay $100 million or
more per year for the legislation.
The negotiators are considering three main recommendations from
Interior Department energy revenues: a $1,866 fee for each application
for permit to drill on oil and gas leases ($23 million and up per
year); a two percent deduction on the state share of oil and gas
royalties ($41 million plus per year); and cancellation of an
ultra-deepwater oil and gas research program ($50 million per year.)
In addition it is understood committee Republicans led by Rep. Rob
Bishop (R-Utah) also suggested two more possibilities - revenues from
salvage timber sales and from energy conservation by federal agencies.
Bishop attended the Monday meeting with Kempthorne and reportedly asked
the Democrats to accept Republican recommendations if Republicans
accept Democrats' recommendations.
In the negotiations this week Secretary Kempthorne on November 26
personally with met with Rep. Bishop along with majority and minority
staff members on the House Natural Resources Committee and with
representatives of the interest group coalition.
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- Privatization 
