Coburn blasts Congress for ‘trashing’ national parks

The national parks have been plagued with problems since before the sequester and government shutdown, Coburn said in the report.

The Park Service and America’s parks became a focal point of the 16-day shutdown, providing fodder for both parties, but Coburn says the Park Service has long been mismanaged.

“Barricaded parks across the country exposed the calamity in Washington in 2013, but the National Park System has long been a microcosm of the irresponsible and misplaced priorities within the entire federal budget,” Coburn wrote.

Last year, the Park Service put off more than a quarter billion dollars in maintenance projects on top off the $11.5 billion maintenance backlog, according to the report.

Coburn’s report, Parked! How Congress’ Misplaced Priorities Are Trashing Our National Treasures, breaks the problems down into two sections. One underscores how Congress continually expands parks but ignores current problems and maintenance issues. The other puts on a spotlight on how the Park Service wastes money.

For example, roughly 35 bills have been introduced this year to “study, create or expand national parks, monuments and heritage areas,” the report said.

Additionally, the report shines light on what it calls a “a massive bureaucracy, consisting of $623 million” for administrative costs at the Park Service.

Closure of the National Parks attracted attention nation wide as visitors were turned away at all 401 national sites.

Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis testified before two House committees during the shutdown on the “questionable” actions taken by his department.

Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) subpoenaed the Park Service for all documents relating to the sequester and shutdown.