Zinkes confirmation hearing, watch

That's why I'm asking.
That statement is what I want to hear SE.
I do not want BLM covered in windchimes & crystals Jose,anymore than the rape by oil & gas that has been taking place. Oh and the EPA just walked away from the spill on the Animas/SJ and screwed NM & the tribes.
I have heard him say he is against the PLT and I do believe in the Pinchot & Muir use COLABORATION and wise SUSTAINABLE use.
I also heard he voted on that one bill or proposal.I also heard that got shot down,even tho it opened the door.
 
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My opinion of Mr. Zinke was permanently tarnished when he ran a campaign add alleging that his opponent knowingly endangered school children by hiring bus drivers who were convicted sex offenders and drunk drivers. If he thinks I am so stupid that I don't know that the state superintendent of education has nothing to do with local hiring decisions, then he really doesn't respect me as a voter. I am sure though, that he approves of private transportation companies making extra money by skipping background checks for their drivers.
 
Just read a good write up on Zinke by Ben Long in HCN.
I guess we just have to wait and see.
The last cabinet post unfilled id also most important to Public Lands.
Unfortunately I foresee NF with Bayer/Monsanto posted by the names with the one I heard today. The fattest fox to enter the henhouse....I mean house of congress.
 
Zinke is obviously Satan incarnate.

We should flood our reps with calls, emails, and letters in hopes that Zinke is rejected and one of the other names off of Trumps list gets the job.

Because Zinke is clearly the worst Trump could do. Obviously.
 
JC, I know danger exist when inquiring and / or quoting posts of yours though I have a special flame retardant suit I wear for such occasions... :)

Would you provide a link to your sources for this recent post of yours, please? Thanks.

JoseCuervo said:
Looks like Zinke is well versed at selling access and influence peddling.




Does Sec of Interior have any Swampland that needs Drained?


Gotta like a Sec of Interior that works with Penny Stocks.... from the inside....
Click to expand...
 
I've watched part of the hearing. One thing that came up is the backlog of maintenance in national parks. So I have a question about park funding...does the money spent at parks not stay in parks? I realize some parks are more popular than others, but it's hard to imagine a place like Yosemite or Yellowstone not being able to afford to paint their road stripes in gold with money generated from visitation, vendors etc.
I'm sure somebody ( Ben) is well versed in this?
 
MTGomer said:
I've watched part of the hearing. One thing that came up is the backlog of maintenance in national parks. So I have a question about park funding...does the money spent at parks not stay in parks? I realize some parks are more popular than others, but it's hard to imagine a place like Yosemite or Yellowstone not being able to afford to paint their road stripes in gold with money generated from visitation, vendors etc.
I'm sure somebody ( Ben) is well versed in this?
Click to expand...

No Parks get funded through congress, not through revenue. The funding comes from whatever congress gives the DOI to work with. That is why there is such a backlog, congress never adequately funds ANY of our public land agencies. Plus they don't fix things like fire borrwing that further backlogs issues on public lands. It's easy to break the system when you're breaking it from within then complaining these places need to be transferred for better managment. Whenever you contact your representatives about the transfer or sell issue, you should always let them know you also want our land management agencies adequately funded as well.
 
MTGomer, I can't answer that specific question, but I once heard that out of all of our state parks here in MS, that only 2 turned a profit. That's probably 2 out of 50 or so. My guess would be that the same is true with national parks. Some national parks don't even charge an entry fee. Great Smoky National Park has more visitors per year than any other park and they don't even charge an entry fee. Think of how much money they could generate just by charging a few bucks per car that entered the park.
 
The way it was being discussed I figured they must rely on congressional appropriations.

Do you think it would be advantageous to run a park more like a business, relying on income it generates, instead of being reliant on ups and down in funding levels from a disengaged congress?
Its hard to look at the traffic in Yellowstone and not imagine it not being able to sustain itself, but maybe not?

Edit: I was typing at the same time as S elk.

That's good info. I guess my experience is just with the overwhelmingly crowded and not that cheap to get into parks.
 
Here's an article that explains in fairly plain language how park fees are spent - it's a few years old, but I'm not aware that anything has changed.

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2010/02/entrance-fees-generate-hundreds-millions-dollars-year-national-park-service5360

The parks get a mix of appropriated funds and fee dollars. The problem with money in the federal government however is that all money is not equal. Congress places extensive limits on how certain "pots" of appropriated money may be spent. It looks like fees primarily go to things that are directly visitor related that appropriated funds won't cover.
 
MTGomer said:
The way it was being discussed I figured they must rely on congressional appropriations.

Do you think it would be advantageous to run a park more like a business, relying on income it generates, instead of being reliant on ups and down in funding levels from a disengaged congress?
Its hard to look at the traffic in Yellowstone and not imagine it not being able to sustain itself, but maybe not?

Edit: I was typing at the same time as S elk.

That's good info. I guess my experience is just with the overwhelmingly crowded and not that cheap to get into parks.
Click to expand...

I know it takes a lot of money to run a park like Yellowstone, but I think you are right. I believe that park could cover its own expenses. It's $30 per car to get in. There are over 4 million visitors per year. I don't know how many cars that equates to, but it's a lot of money. Plus you have all of the other things like souvenirs and food. And everywhere you go there's always a donation box.
 
I'm waiting for someone to shock the hell out of all regarding this funding issue and how it works.

Personally, I think it should be handled like the military funding. And we should be just as patriotic about it. But that's just me.
 
The $ from the parks is shoveled to the congressional feed trough,then the park gets back what they can finess out of what little they get in basic budget under rules and regs and maybe some from what they can juggle in the dept.
I know a USDA-NF that gets 115mil day use visits a year and produces tons of income,yet the NF itself gets is less than 5% to run one of the largest forests in the land.
I know this is not NP I used as a Fed example,but I worked in the field for a smaller Dept. It was basicly the same. We produced income yet we were constantly cut in the budget for each Park & our job grew in coverage without new or additional help to cover the work load. More work,same money & time to do so,with no help.
One Park I worked at had 1.5 mil day users a year@$18 yet we had a staff of 8.Could not ever catch up with back log.
 
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