I’m huge supporter of public lands and in particular the more than 400 units in the National Park System. Each year, more than 300 million people visit our national parks — exceptional natural and culturally significant places that we have set aside because they matter. Visitors come for the opportunities to experience those unique places in peace.
The National Park Service Organic Act was signed into law on August 25, 1916, by President Woodrow Wilson, and is codified in Title 16 of the United States Code. The Organic Act specifies that fundamental purpose of the 419 National Park Systems Units, which include the 61 National Parks, 87 National Monuments, 19 National Preserves, 57 National Historic Parks, 76 National Historic Sites and smattering of Reservations, Recreation Areas, Battlefields, National Scenic Rivers and Historic Scenic and Recreational Trails.
purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations
This decision to send NPS law enforcement rangers to patrol the southern border is clearly outside the mission of the NPS www.usatoday.com/… . While it might be appropriate if those rangers were assigned to bolster law enforcement activities within borderland park units (Great Bend NP in Texas and Organ Pipe Cactus NM in Arizona) that does not seem to be the plan.
It is hard to imagine that this decision to reassign NPS law enforcement rangers to non park areas along the border will do much to curb illegal immigration. It certainly won’t help the morale of NPS staff left to cope with reduced law enforcement capabilities in the parks. It certainly won’t help visitors to our parks to feel or be safer during those visits and it leaves open the real potential for impairment to park cultural and natural resources.
The National Park system is already understaffed www.npca.org/...and is also currently suffering under the burden of a huge maintenance backlog, the consequence of decades of underfunding. While Republican strategies to ‘starve the beast’ of government have done little to limit federal deficits, they have created enormous cumulative problems in agencies like the NPS where billions of dollars in maintenance have been ‘deferred’ www.nps.gov/… en.wikipedia.org/…
Deploying NPS law enforcement resources to non park duties along the border is a breach of public trust and should be called out for what it is — another abuse of executive power by the pResident.