Quality of life

A persistent budget shortfall has meant a Park Service that is often unable to imagine what it needs to become to help fulfill America’s best vision of itself.

What do 84.4 million acres of national parks have in common with a B-2 bomber? The annual appropriation for the parks is about the same as that bomber’s life-cycle cost. The result is a National Park Service that is understaffed, under-resourced, and often unable to imagine the park system that would help fulfill America’s best vision of itself.