David Thomas: “I ask the Senator if he is aware that the subcommittee is now in the process of seeking to put together a plan, a…”

“I ask the Senator if he is aware that the subcommittee is now in the process of seeking to put together a plan, a long-term plan? All of us who understand that parks and their resources are one of the most valuable resources that we have, that there are troublesome things happening and frankly there is no plan in place and we need to have one--we need to talk about finances. There needs to be some additional resources for finances in addition to the appropriations. We need to talk about how we do some bonding, how we do some private investment, how we do some other kinds of things. In addition, we need to talk about the concessionaires. We need to get that straightened out so it moves. We need to talk, frankly, about the management of the parks so we have a plan that has measurable results so the plans that are set for the Nation will also be applied in the parks. And we have invited the administration to participate. Fortunately, this morning we have a nominee for the Park Service. We have not had a Park Service Director. So I want to assure the Senator that there is underway an effort to basically reform and move forward and, also, I forgot to say, to have something that defines more clearly what kind of a park is appropriate to be part of the National System so we are not taking in what is more appropriately local recreation areas to be managed by the National Park Service.”