Get ready to start hearing about budget woes from national park officials. A story the other day in the Jackson Hole News & Guide highlighted the tight times facing Grand Teton National Park.
     Grand Teton Superintendent Mary Gibson Scott told the newspaper that while the public wants the park to install more than 40 miles of bike paths and implement a mass transit system, Congress just imposed a 1 percent across-the-board budget cut on government agencies. That cut comes on top of a maintenance backlog "guesstimated" at roughly $60 million at Grand Teton. And Scott says that backlog could jump to $100 million once a detailed audit is conducted.  The superintendent says her staff is performing an operations review in an effort to find areas where it can save money.
    The dire budget situation seems to be playing into the hands of those who would privatize our national parks. Already Grand Teton has turned over management of its campgrounds to outside concessionaires, and park positions are being lost to volunteers.
    While Grand Teton officials are looking forward to opening a new and improved visitor center at Moose, Scott told the Jackson newspaper that with the larger visitor center she hopes to lure more volunteers from the community to help run some of the park’s interpretive programs.