Isle Royale Forums

Isle Royale (and Keweenaw National Historic Park) are in the news today regarding budget watchdog concerns. Hopefully we can help out the Senator from Oklahoma without getting too political here.

http://www.freep.com/article/20131030/N ... S-expenses

While I'm generally a supporter of budgetary watchdogs like the Senator from Oklahoma, I think he could use a little education. In particular the benefits of Isle Royale and a couple of statistics he might not be unaware of, such as the very high average length of stay and very high repeat visitors. I think these things more than counterbalance the negatives he outlined. I will be sending him an email shortly to hopefully make him aware.

He received an e-mail from me mentioning the same things, local dollars generated from IR as a destination, wolf moose study.
I asked if he knew where IR was and if he had been there.

I just read this same article and was going to post a link to it, but since the link is already here, I guess I will just comment. I, too, think this guy is way off base. The U.P. and Isle Royale have a lot of history behind them and they're not just a waste of money. Has anyone been through Munising, Michigan lately? I have. As a matter of fact I was through there twice this summer and at least once for the last couple years. Munising is home to Grand Island and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Both places draw quite a few visitors each year. As a matter of fact, I have personally seen quite a rise in the number of hotels in the area. Obviously, that means there are more people visiting the region, which in turn means it is important to other people and to the local and state economies. Isle Royale is not only important to outdoor enthusiasts and backpackers, it also represents a significant source of scientific research; just ask Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich. I agree that in these troubled economic times we need to closely look at where our money is going and how it is being used, but maybe the Senator should do a little research himself before he climbs up on his soapbox and writes reports that are filled with less-than-accurate information and makes himself look foolish, especially to the people whose lives are impacted by those areas.

Here is some budget trivia and probably way too much information. No politics, just facts.

2013 NPS Budget (Greenbook)
http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/upload/FY13_ ... enbook.pdf
The total budget for the NPS is about $3 billion.

From this data I extracted spreadsheets for:
1) the budgets per property (park, historic site, monument, recreation area etc)
2) the visitation per property.

There was missing data for a few but I ended up with complete data for 313 properties (budget & visitation). The budget is for 2013 but the visitation is for 2010. I also have the acreages for 2011 if you're interested.

These are the top 20 subsidy costs per person: (i.e. Budget / Visitors)
$1687.76 , Salt River Bay NHP & Ecological Preserve , Budget=$800K , Visitors=474
$921.34 , National Park of American Samoa , Budget=$1956K , Visitors=2123
$511.34 , Frederick Law Olmsted NHS , Budget=$1804K , Visitors=3528
$386.42 , Western Arctic National Parklands , Budget=$3729K , Visitors=9650
$340.66 , Lake Clark NP&Pres , Budget=$3378K , Visitors=9916
$307.51 , Yukon-Charley Rivers NPres , Budget=$1913K , Visitors=6221
$279.29 , Isle Royale NP , Budget=$4389K , Visitors=15715
$267.76 , Gates of the Arctic NP&Pres , Budget=$2883K , Visitors=10767
$267.05 , Eugene O'Neill NHS , Budget=$693K , Visitors=2595
$260.36 , Sand Creek Massacre NHS , Budget=$842K , Visitors=3234
$212.41 , Port Chicago Naval Magazine NMem , Budget=$178K , Visitors=838
$197.47 , Nicodemus NHS , Budget=$687K , Visitors=3479
$180.98 , Rio Grande WSR , Budget=$196K , Visitors=1083
$144.29 , Kalaupapa NHP , Budget=$4119K , Visitors=28546
$117.02 , Fort Union NM , Budget=$1234K , Visitors=10545
$111.06 , First Ladies NHS , Budget=$997K , Visitors=8977
$106.63 , Thomas Stone NHS , Budget=$624K , Visitors=5852
$86.84 , Springfield Armory NHS , Budget=$1473K , Visitors=16963
$83.40 , Saugus Iron Works NHS , Budget=$895K , Visitors=10732
$76.33 , Agate Fossil Beds NM , Budget=$930K , Visitors=12184

Just for fun here are the top 20 by budget:
Budget=$35590K , Yellowstone NP , Visitors=3568277 , Per Person=$9.97
Budget=$32539K , National Mall & Memorial Parks , Visitors=24873935 , Per Person=$1.31
Budget=$29270K , Yosemite NP , Visitors=3906354 , Per Person=$7.49
Budget=$25486K , Gateway NRA , Visitors=8671981 , Per Person=$2.94
Budget=$24071K , Independence NHP , Visitors=3850412 , Per Person=$6.25
Budget=$21554K , Grand Canyon NP , Visitors=4370274 , Per Person=$4.93
Budget=$19218K , Great Smoky Mountains NP , Visitors=9533163 , Per Person=$2.02
Budget=$18055K , Lake Mead NRA , Visitors=7310611 , Per Person=$2.47
Budget=$17754K , Golden Gate NRA , Visitors=14242898 , Per Person=$1.25
Budget=$17111K , Everglades NP , Visitors=937680 , Per Person=$18.25
Budget=$16679K , Sequoia NP & Kings Canyon NP , Visitors=1611776 , Per Person=$10.35
Budget=$15978K , Blue Ridge Parkway , Visitors=14485052 , Per Person=$1.1
Budget=$15791K , Statue of Liberty NM & Ellis Island , Visitors=3883945 , Per Person=$4.07
Budget=$13986K , Denali NP&Pres , Visitors=379093 , Per Person=$36.89
Budget=$13868K , Glacier NP , Visitors=2185568 , Per Person=$6.35
Budget=$12745K , Grand Teton NP , Visitors=2640277 , Per Person=$4.83
Budget=$12681K , Rocky Mountain NP , Visitors=2861952 , Per Person=$4.43
Budget=$12663K , Shenandoah NP , Visitors=1165769 , Per Person=$10.86
Budget=$12278K , Mount Rainier NP , Visitors=1189286 , Per Person=$10.32
Budget=$11591K , Natchez Trace Parkway, Brices Cross Roads NBS, Tupelo NB , Visitors=5930428 , Per Person=$1.95

And finally the top 20 by visitation:
Visitors=24873935 , National Mall & Memorial Parks , Per Person=$1.31 , Budget=$32539K
Visitors=14485052 , Blue Ridge Parkway , Per Person=$1.1 , Budget=$15978K
Visitors=14242898 , Golden Gate NRA , Per Person=$1.25 , Budget=$17754K
Visitors=9533163 , Great Smoky Mountains NP , Per Person=$2.02 , Budget=$19218K
Visitors=8671981 , Gateway NRA , Per Person=$2.94 , Budget=$25486K
Visitors=7310611 , Lake Mead NRA , Per Person=$2.47 , Budget=$18055K
Visitors=7026530 , George Washington Memorial Parkway , Per Person=$1.61 , Budget=$11299K
Visitors=5930428 , Natchez Trace Parkway , Per Person=$1.95 , Budget=$11591K
Visitors=5285761 , Delaware Water Gap NRA , Per Person=$1.82 , Budget=$9624K
Visitors=4604708 , Cape Cod NS , Per Person=$1.66 , Budget=$7652K
Visitors=4370274 , Grand Canyon NP , Per Person=$4.93 , Budget=$21554K
Visitors=4210062 , Castle Clinton NM , Per Person=$0.15 , Budget=$620K
Visitors=4116238 , San Francisco Maritime NHP , Per Person=$1.82 , Budget=$7480K
Visitors=4084446 , Gulf Islands NS , Per Person=$1.79 , Budget=$7292K
Visitors=4078592 , Chesapeake & Ohio Canal NHP , Per Person=$2.51 , Budget=$10253K
Visitors=3906354 , Yosemite NP , Per Person=$7.49 , Budget=$29270K
Visitors=3883945 , Statue of Liberty NM & Ellis Island , Per Person=$4.07 , Budget=$15791K
Visitors=3850412 , Independence NHP , Per Person=$6.25 , Budget=$24071K
Visitors=3568277 , Yellowstone NP , Per Person=$9.97 , Budget=$35590K
Visitors=3453815 , Colonial NHP , Per Person=$1.98 , Budget=$6845K

It would be nice to be able to calculate cost per person-day. For example the $10 per person for Yellowstone might be for only an 8 to 12 hour average stay = $20 to $30 per person-day. While ISRO's $280 per person might then be closer to $70 per person-day.

Good info, it would be interesting to see a breakdown of the IR budget. I thought I remember reading a good chunk of the budget goes to utilities on IR.

I think a lot of people would agree that the NPS mis-manages funds. I, for one, do. But they also provide a valuable service... while myself and others who think the NPS is wasteful and couldn't manage itself out of as paper bag, they also provide and protect our greatest national treasures.

The answer to fix National Parks' budget problems isn't slashing the budget... It's to force the system to be more fiscally responsible. There's a lot of ways to skin that cat, but using some common sense is a start. For one, stop playing the "different pots of money" game...

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fonixmunkee wrote:I think a lot of people would agree that the NPS mis-manages funds. I, for one, do. But they also provide a valuable service... while myself and others who think the NPS is wasteful and couldn't manage itself out of as paper bag, they also provide and protect our greatest national treasures.

I've long said, the Federal government can do some things quite effectively, but it does nothing efficiently.

Midwest Ed wrote:Here is some budget trivia and probably way too much information. No politics, just facts.....
$921.34 , National Park of American Samoa , Budget=$1956K , Visitors=2123
$511.34 , Frederick Law Olmsted NHS , Budget=$1804K , Visitors=3528

I can understand the National Park of American Samoa. I may never get there, myself. But the Olmsted NHS is in Brookline, Mass., for crying out loud! That's ridiculous. Maybe it's just that there are so many historic sites around Boston.

fonixmunkee wrote:I think a lot of people would agree that the NPS mis-manages funds. I, for one, do. But they also provide a valuable service... while myself and others who think the NPS is wasteful and couldn't manage itself out of as paper bag, they also provide and protect our greatest national treasures.

The answer to fix National Parks' budget problems isn't slashing the budget... It's to force the system to be more fiscally responsible. There's a lot of ways to skin that cat, but using some common sense is a start. For one, stop playing the "different pots of money" game...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Agree they need to watch the spend, but the only way the congress can force fiscal responsibility is through cutting budgets. NPS is an Executive Branch function. The Exec branch wants all the money it can get from congress, since money = power.