Park Service Gets Some Dirty Looks by Michael Doyle The Fresno Bee - May 25, 2000 WASHINGTON--Lawmakers and auditors voiced frustration Wednesday about long-standing National Park Service problems that have caused concession woes in Sierra Nevada parks. Pointing to blown-up pictures of an ugly Kings Canyon National Park bathroom, and to the prospects of big Memorial Day weekend crowds on the way, Mariposa Republican George Radanovich chastised Park Service officials for persistent management shortcomings. "I've been a close observer of the national parks," Radanovich said at the inaugural hearing of a new House Budget Committee task force, "and I question whether the Park Service is doing what it should to ensure that optimal service is provided to the visitor." For evidence, Radanovich cited a sharply critical General Accounting Office audit made public last month. The auditors reported finding ants, dirt, rust and graffiti at some older Grant Grove facilities in the Kings Canyon park. At Tent City and Meadow Camp, the auditors found mildewed showers and chipping bathrooms. The problem, GAO auditors say, goes beyond a few aging concession facilities. Specifically, auditors told the natural resources and environment task force led by Radanovich that the Park Service's 126-member concession management staff is struggling to oversee the private concession firms that collect about $765 million a year from park visitors. "It's just been a low priority for the Park Service," said Barry Hill, associate director of the GAO. "They just haven't given it much attention." Radanovich's new task force was one of several election-year groups established by the House Budget Committee to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. A decade's worth of audits from the GAO and Interior Depart-ment's inspector general consistently have identified concessions management as a Park Service vulnerability. Auditors repeatedly cite the disparity in experience between corporations that run some park concessions--such as the Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North that operates concessions at Yosemite and Sequoia national parks--and the Park Service's own multi-hatted staff. "We want to recruit more professionals," Maureen Finnerty, associate Park Service director, told the task force. "We want to phase out collateral duty" so that park concession officials work concession duty full time. Smaller concession operators, such as the Kings Canyon Park Services Co., have likewise complained about their treatment by park staff. Kevin Garden, a lawyer for the Kings Canyon concessionaire, blamed problems squarely on park officials. Garden specifically charged that the company "has not been able to operate profitably" because the Park Service has unfairly blocked construction of new facilities. The Park Service is now working with Cornell University and other schools to provide better training, and hiring some of the service's first MBAs.