"Although the national parks are protected, they are increasingly in trouble," Kiernan said. "The Bush Administration has pledged $4.9 billion for national park protection. Unfortunately their initial follow-through on the funding promise is weak and other actions they are taking will not help the parks, but in fact hurt them."

Kiernan noted that the Bush Administration appears to be yielding to special interest groups. Administration officials have mentioned opening Yellowstone and other parks to snowmobile use and renewing leases of homes inside Biscayne National Park. They have also announced interest in drilling for oil in national monuments.

Use of Funds

While Bush has pledged U.S. $4.9 billion for national park improvement, Kiernan expressed concern over the use of those funds.

According to NPCA, 98 percent of the money has been earmarked for "bricks and mortar" projects—building roads and repairing existing structures.

"However," said Kiernan, "protecting the plants, animals, and historic artifacts in the parks is, by law, of greater importance than fixing roads and buildings."

Furthermore, recent Bush Administration decisions against regulating carbon dioxide emissions will greatly impact national parks, said Kiernan. "President Bush's backing-off on CO2 controls will devastate Glacier and many other national parks."

"We may have better roads and lodges in Glacier, but no glaciers and less wildlife to view from those fancy new roads."

Committed to Preservation

"We are urging the Bush Administration to put $2.8 billion of the administration's proposed $4.9 billion into resource protection and visitor education," said Kiernan, citing an NPCA study that shows National Park Service funding is often allocated for short-term visitor needs rather than long-term protection.

"If we can redirect the proposed funding, we will see more parks moving off this endangered list," said Kiernan.

"The Bush Administration is committed to preserving natural resources," said Interior Department spokesman Mark Pfeifle.

On Monday, President Bush will announce the budget for the park system, which will include an increase in funding for the National Resource Challenge. The three-year-old program is aimed at "determining the variety and habitat of species living within national parks, monitoring invasive exotic species, and improving stewardship," said Pfeifle.

"This can't be done alone," said Pfeifle. "Our relationship with the NPCA and other groups is vitally important."

Endangered Parks

Since 1919, the NPCA has monitored the resources and conditions within the national parks. This is the third year that the NPCA has prepared a list of endangered national parks in an effort to draw attention to the park service's most pressing problems.

New to the list is the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, which NPCA officials say is suffering due to lack of funding. Budget constraints have impaired the National Park Service's ability to preserve the home of the noted abolitionist.

According to park officials, the interior and exterior of the site needs repairs. Books, photographs, and furnishings that once belonged to Douglass, known as the "Sage of Anacostia," are deteriorating from age and exposure.

"Like your home and mine, which gets only family traffic, Douglass's home cannot be open to the world every day without undergoing repair and rehabilitation," said Washington, D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton.

"It is an open question whether or not this administration is a friend or foe of our national parks," said Kiernan.