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NATIONAL CEMETERIES IN NATIONAL PARKS
THREATENED
BY LACK OF FUNDING -- Suffer from chronic
funding
shortfall which affects the ability of the
National Park
Service to protect national cemeteries.
Story here...
http://www.earthtimes.org/
articles/show/news_press
_release,108829.shtml
Story below:
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Memorial Day Concern: National Parks Conservation Association Says
National Cemeteries Threatened by Lack of Funding
WASHINGTON, /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National cemeteries within the
National Park System are suffering from insufficient funding and other
threats, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)
said today as America prepares to celebrate Memorial Day.
"The National Park Service has a unique ability to foster understanding
of these sites, and ensure that their significance is preserved for
generations of Americans," said NPCA President Tom Kiernan. "It is up to
Congress and the Administration to see that the Park Service has the
resources needed to do the job."
NPCA research shows that national parks suffer from a chronic
$800-million annual funding shortfall, which affects the ability of the
National Park Service to protect national cemeteries and other cultural
and historic sites.
Earlier this month, Congress held a hearing about the state of the
nation's cemeteries. The superintendent of Andersonville National
Historic Site and Cemetery in Georgia testified before the House
Committee on Veterans' Affairs on May 8 on behalf of the 14 national
cemeteries in the park system, most of which honor Civil War veterans.
"While we have devoted funds and employees to cemetery maintenance, as
is often the case with historic resources, much remains to be done,"
said Superintendent Fred Boyles.
Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, which includes
Gettysburg National Cemetery, has a 41 percent budget shortfall. NPCA's
Center for State of the Parks assessment of Andersonville revealed that
additional funding is needed to maintain the grounds of the national
cemetery. Established as a national cemetery by the Secretary of War in
1879, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana is
threatened by adjacent development, and requires additional funding to
protect artifacts from the Battle of Little Bighorn. Vicksburg National
Military Park and Cemetery in Mississippi is threatened by vandalism.
"The opportunity to visit a national cemetery and reflect upon the
stories told therein provide a critical part of a visitor's experience
to national parks like Gettysburg and Andersonville," Kiernan added. "We
need to protect these places."
NPCA is calling on Congress to support the Administration's proposed
$200- million operating increase for national parks in the 2008 budget,
which would help to address the needs of national cemeteries and other
sites within the park system.
For instance, the Administration's 2008 budget requests an additional
$79,000 for Andersonville National Historic Site -- a 6 percent increase
over the park's fiscal year 2006 operating budget, and an additional
$648,000 for Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee, which also
protects a national cemetery -- a 37 percent increase over the park's
fiscal year 2006 operating budget. Maryland's Antietam National
Battlefield and Civil War cemetery is slated to receive an increase of
$486,000 -- a 16 percent increase over its fiscal year 2006 operating
budget.
The 14 national cemeteries in the park system are: Andersonville
National Cemetery, Andersonville, Ga.; Andrew Johnson National Cemetery,
Greeneville, Tenn.; Antietam National Cemetery, Sharpsburg, Md.;
Battleground National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.; Chalmette National
Cemetery, part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in
Chalmette, La.; Custer National Cemetery, part of Little Bighorn
Battlefield National Monument in Crow Agency, Mont.; Fort Donelson
National Cemetery, Dover, Tenn.; Fredericksburg National Cemetery,
Fredericksburg, Va.; Gettysburg National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pa.;
Poplar Grove National Cemetery, Petersburg, Va.; Shiloh National
Cemetery, Shiloh, Tenn.; Stones River National Cemetery, Murfreesboro,
Tenn.; Vicksburg National Cemetery, Vicksburg, Miss.; and Yorktown
National Cemetery, part of Colonial National Historical Park in
Yorktown, Va.
National Parks Conservation Association
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Larry Scott
