Bush legacy leaves uphill climb for U.S. parks, critics say

"The agency has been demoralized; the employees of the National Park Service have been beaten down," said Bill Wade, former superintendent at Shenandoah National Park and cofounder of a park service retirees group that has been critical of the Bush administration. "The feeling is that their professional expertise and judgment hasn't counted for much; their scientific and research experience hasn't contributed to decisions."

Interviews and reports from the Interior Department's inspector general show a department in disarray.

Some park service veterans are waiting to see what transpires under Obama's Interior secretary, former Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). In his first message to employees last week, Salazar said he would stress stewardship and conservation on the nation's 630 million acres of public land.

"If we get lucky and we have a good strong National Park Service director, a lot of this can be reversed quite quickly," said Roger Kennedy, a former park service director and director emeritus of the National Museum of American History.

The leading contender to head the park service appears to be respected agency veteran Jon Jarvis, the Pacific regional director based in Oakland.

Interior spokesman Chris Paolino denied that the department has favored the BLM over the park service.

"There has been and continues to be a great commitment to work cooperatively, with input from all agencies, particularly the National Park Service, with issues of air and water quality surrounding the parks," Paolino said. "That cooperation will continue to be strong."

Bush spoke glowingly of the 84-million-acre park system. As a presidential candidate in 2000 and 2004, he pledged to eliminate the service's nearly $5-billion maintenance backlog by 2005; the most recent estimate to repair and upgrade the nation's parks is $8.7 billion.

Still, the Bush administration managed to keep the park service budget intact, Paolino said. "The park service has the largest operating budget in its history, and that's because of the president."

Beyond issues of infrastructure, former Interior officials and park service directors from both parties say Bush left behind a demoralized department.

Beginning in 2004, Interior's inspector general cited a "culture of fear" and of "ethical failure," and in one report concluded: "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of Interior."