Because of the newer mobility of a significant amount of suburban America, driving to national parks was even more an option. The more people visited the Parks, it seemed, the more of a synergistic effect upon their funding and use (Jensen and Guthrie, 2006).
By the Johnson Administration in the 1960s, coupled with more media attention, there was increased public awareness of America's natural treasures. This was now that "Parks for People" Campaign. During this period there was also a fairly significant new awareness about ecology and the natural environment. The mission of the National Parks Service was called into question. Reacting to this, Congress passed the General Authorities Acts of 1970, which became known as the "Redwood Amendment," since a large part of the Act was devoted to conserving Redwood National Park. Based on political pressure from citizens, Congress was also forced to provide a rather significant funding increase not only to expand National Park areas, but to provide more services (educational, lodging areas, hiking trails, etc.). The environmental community seemed particularly strong during these times, calling attention to oil spills, pollution, and extinction issues resulting in much greater attention towards the maintenance and expansion of the NPS (O'Brien, 1999).
The National Park Service recognized that working with partners' organizations greatly enhances its ability to protect park resources and provide educational and other visitor services. This includes opportunities with in the parks and beyond park boundaries. There are many kinds of partners. Some provide funding for NPs programs, while others technical expertise for NPS projects. Some are the national level, while others are at the park of office level. While these partners are not actually a part of the NPS, they all share the Service's interest in the management of the national parks. Partnering also helped the NPS add more Alaskan areas duing the 1980s to now include more than 380 parks covering more than 83 million acres in every state of the Union. Its mission remains true to its founding, and despite criticism and the ebb and flow of emphasis and funding based on the administration in power, it supports the preservation of natural and historic places, as well as outdoor recreational areas outside the system through grants and partners (The National Park Service, 2002).
Hierarchy & Structure: The NPS has a chain-of-command structure that begins with the NPS director, extends down to the regional directors, and continues to each park or office. In general, the highest ranking position at a park is a Superintendent. Similarly, the NPS Training Centers have a Superintendent, and in Regional Offices the highest ranking position is the Regional Director. Each park of office organized its employees into different functional divisions, such as maintenance, resource management, and visitor and resource protection. Each division is lead by a Division Chief. The size and function of a park or office will determine which divisions it has and how the divisions are organized (McClelland, 1998)
Agency problems -Funding has been and continues to be a challenge for NPS. World War II had presented challenges for the NPS. Director Newton Drury had been faced with the task of protecting the nation's parks from those who wanted to use their resources for the war efforts he was besieged by many committee who wanted to use historic cannons for scrap metal, he managed to keep the parks intact. Even so the war years took their toll on the parks. Tight budgets left the NPS unable to adequately maintain facilities; and with the return on peace and the subsequent increase of travel, the parks' problems became painfully evident. The affordability of automobiles allowed the middle class a newfound mobility, visitation to national parks swelled, overwhelming run-down facilities. On June 26, 1956, in the midst of the Cold War, Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act, approving the creation of a 41,000-mile highway system to improve military mobility. These new roads meant that travel and, consequently, park visitation were sure to increase even more (Lee).
The challenges that Director Newton Drury faced during WWII are the same challenges many of the NPS Directors faces today. On March 17th 2010, NPS Director Jarvis told members of a House Subcommittee that "difficult economic times call for creativity,...
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