Trouble at Jellystone National Park

Hugh Hewitt points us to a piece in the Washington Post concerning possible cutbacks in the National Parks Service:

The Bush administration has ordered America's national parks to show that they can function at 80 percent or less of their operating budgets, which is forcing some parks to cut services for visitors as summer approaches.

National Park Service officials said the initiative was an effort to cope with the rising costs of salaries, utilities and other management expenses without harming the parks' "core" missions of protecting the nation's natural treasures and enabling visitors to enjoy them. The Park Service has more than 270 million visitors annually.

But park officials in the field said the initiative was forcing "gut-wrenching" decisions that visitors will notice. At many parks, volunteers will take on larger roles, and there will be fewer interpretive ranger programs, the officials said.

Looks like this could be a "gut-enhancing" decision for Yogi and Boo-Boo now that Mr. Ranger won't be around so much while they're stealing "pic-a-nic" baskets.