New lodging at Canyon in Yellowstone National Park, built by Xanterra Parks & Resorts, is the exception in the National Park System, where new facilities are seldom built/Xanterra Parks & Resorts

How can concessions agreements with the National Park Service be improved? What sort of innovations should the Park Service consider for the next 100 years? Those topics will be dissected by two House of Representatives subcommittees this week.

The subjects are not new by any stretch. Concessions operations in the National Park System have been scrutinized, kicked around, and questioned for some time. Back in 1998 Congress thought it had fixed the approach to managing long-term contracts in the parks, but problems that have surfaced in the past year have led some members of Congress to voice concern that the contracting system is ineffective.

"The system laid out in the National Park Omnibus Management Act (of 1998) has worked, with varying degrees of success. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly clear that competition in the bidding process and the ability of the Park Service to attract new bidders have both significantly diminished," Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Michael F. Bennett wrote to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in mid-December.

"We understand that the concessions bidding system is not working effectively and the Park Service is doing what it can under the constraints of the law to attract bidders," they continued. "Yet we also believe the practice of 'borrowing' funds from park maintenance accounts is not an adequate solution. We believe this practice should not continue, and we urge you to intervene and stop this practice."

The poster child, if you will, of the concessions program's ills is the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, where the park's handling of the massive package of lodging, dining, and activities concessions has generated lawsuits and hard feelings. At issue was the decision by the Park Service to split the South Rim's concessions package in two; Delaware North Cos. received one half, while the winner of the larger, second half remains up in the air.

The sheer magnitude of that half, which includes the El Tovar Hotel, the Bright Angel Lodge, and Phantom Ranch, has created a nightmare of sorts. Driving the problem was that Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which has held the contract for decades, had amassed nearly $200 million in improvements to the lodgings and restaurants; if Xanterra didn't have the contract renewed, it would be entitled to that sum from its successor.

The Park Service borrowed about $100 million from across the park system to, in effect, buy down that number to a somewhat more reasonable $100 million with hopes the contract would generate competition among companies that could manage to both assume that debt and operate such a large operation.

Grand Canyon officials said Tuesday that at least two bids for the contract had been received, and the Park Service's concessions office in Washington, D.C., was reviewing them.

Still, as Traveler reported in March, across the National Park System there is an estimated half-a-billion-dollars of obligations the National Park Service owes concessionaires who run lodges, restaurants, and even some activities. 

At Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, the outstanding amount is more than $57 million. At Glacier National Park in Montana, it's $22 million. At Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, it's nearly $100 million. At Yellowstone National Park, the sum is $21.5 million.

Those figures are built into the existing concessions contracts, and not owed immediately, but could come due at the end of the current pacts.

While Park Service officials declined to comment on whether the current concessions model hampers competition, the letter from the senators to Secretary Jewell showed some in Congress are uncomfortable with the current program. And on Thursday the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Interior will hold a hearing titled, “Modernizing the National Park Service Concession Program.” 

An hour after that hearing commences, a second, “New and Innovative Ideas for the Next Century of Our National Parks," will get under way in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands. A memo outlining the goal of the hearing notes that that Park Service has increasingly become "unable to fund necessary maintenance projects. NPS currently estimates that its deferred maintenance backlog stands at $11.5 billion (of which $5.9 billion represents non-transportation assets)."

The memo also notes that "per capita visitation at National Parks has steadily declined in recent decades." (It should be noted, though, that in 2014 visitation to the parks reached a record of nearly 293 million, and that parks are reporting double-digit increases in visitation this year, some as high as 20 percent.)

Is going underground at Mammoth Cave National Park not enticing enough for younger generations?/NPS

Expected to testify at that hearing are John Nau, III, a member of the National Park Foundation and president of the largest distributor of Anheuser-Busch products;  Jim Fram, president and CEO of the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce; Derrick Crandal, counselor to the National Park Hospitality Association; and Craig Obey, senior vice president for government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Not expected to be a topic for consideration is an increase in congressional appropriations to the Park Service:

This hearing will focus on new and innovative ideas for generating funding for the National Park System, outside of congressional appropriations, including increasing park visitation, enhancing guest services, and promoting recreational activities within parks.

The memo also seems to indicate the committee's Republican leadership favors forging new sponsorship agreements with businesses that until just recently the Park Service had decided not to do business with, and to encourage more volunteerism and outside friends groups to help run the parks.

...NPS has recently taken some positive steps forward. One positive change has been in the area of corporate sponsorship. In January of this year, NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis waived NPS policies against partnering with alcoholic beverage companies so the congressionally chartered National Park Foundation could sign a $2.5 million agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev. The deal is designed to raise revenue and promote the NPS’ centennial “Find Your Park” campaign. 

Another positive change has been an increased focus on volunteerism and utilization of so-called “Friends Groups.” The National Park Foundation has worked to increase the growth and effectiveness Friends Groups. Friends Groups have helped fund projects involving campground and trail restorations, wildlife research, and facility construction.

A preview, perhaps, of the innovative ideas to be proposed at the hearing came in March when Mr. Crandall told a House appropriations subcommittee that concessionaires want Congress to authorize better marketing of the parks, longer "high" seasons in the parks they believe would generate more revenues for infrastructure improvements, and expanded concessionaire opportunities in the parks.

"Mr. Chairman and Members, I know you would agree that we need to get Americans back in touch with nature, engaged in physical activities and outdoor recreation, and connected to the magnificent culture, heritage and landscapes that are celebrated by our National Park System," Mr. Crandall said in remarks prepared for his appearance before the subcommittee on March 19.

"We need to reach out to youth to encourage them to share in the wonder and enjoyment of our National Parks and discourage the increasingly sedentary lifestyles that are contributing to our health care crisis. We need to expand park visitation to encourage minorities, disadvantaged communities, new Americans and urban residents to see their national parks for themselves and to build a broader constituency for America’s great outdoors. And, we need to find new and innovative ways to reinvest in the maintenance, restoration, and expansion of critical park infrastructure – much of which was built either by private investment when the national parks were first created, or in conjunction with the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps more than half a century ago."

Among the ideas Mr. Crandall proposed to the committee were:

* Creation of a "National Park Outreach and Promotion Fund," funded by a transfer of 10 percent of the concessionaire franchise fees to "support NPS outreach and marketing efforts in partnership with states, gateway communities and concessioners;"

* Expanding the seasons at national parks, a move that would lead to increase visitor spending and franchise fees for the Park Service. These revenues, coupled with "investment requirements under new concessions contracts and appropriate use of existing Leasehold Surrender Interest" should be used to improve infrastructure in the park system.

* More national park campgrounds should be managed by concessionaires "to improve visitor services and reduce operating costs";

* Concessionaires should be allowed to qualify for "historic tax credits from investments in structures" in the parks, and;

* Programs such as Youth Conservation Corps utilized in Yellowstone and Shenandoah national parks should be expanded across the system to "undertake construction, reconstruction and maintenance projects," possibly at a savings for the Park Service.

During an interview with the Traveler prior to that hearing, Mr. Crandall said the concessionaires don't expect the Park Service to "dramatically" expand road systems in national parks, but would like to see facility improvements and additions and believe it can be done without posing a great competitive threat to lodging and dining options in gateway communities.