Parks in peril
As Park Service turns 100, deferred maintenance tops $12 billion

It’s a bittersweet birthday, as the National Park Service turns 100 today, it is beginning to show its age.
As parks across the country celebrate Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 decree with various activities and free admission, they face a massive $12 billion backlog in deferred maintenance.
At Mesa Verde, which was created in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt, admission will be free Aug. 25-28.  There will be a special Centennial Celebration today, with speakers, tours, Native American dances, a campground evening program and, of course, birthday cake. In addition, members of the USS Mesa Verde will be on hand to help celebrate and lend a hand on a trail project.
The trail project is just one among a long list of to-dos for the park, which Aug. 23-24, closed Cliff Palace, the park’s largest and most visited ruin, to remove lose rock. According to the park, natural erosional processes such as water, wind and freeze-thaw cycles cause the sandstone to expand and contract and form cracks.
The work was performed by a climbing team made up of employees from various parks, the same team that worked on Spruce Tree House last year. The third largest and best preserved dwelling in the park, Spruce Tree was closed for safety concerns after a rock fall in August 2015.
In November 2015, climbers identified more instability at Spruce Tree, and park officials decided to keep the site off limits until a full geotechnical assessment could be done.
All this work does not come cheap. In 2015, Mesa Verde had a nearly $57 million maintenance backlog; second in the state only to Rocky Mountain National Park, which had $62.8 million in deferred maintenance.
The deficit represents a four percent increase over 2014, and is only expected to get worse as Congress continues to refuse to increase funding for national parks.
One silver lining is $1.4 billion earmarked for national parks in the proposed five-year highway transportation bill, with President Obama pushing for an additional $1.6 in appropriations in honor of NPS’ centennial.
However, the money will only scratch the surface with most parks, as some push the NPS to explore public-private partnerships to help fill the gap.
Locally, Mesa Verde is grappling with the shortfall by proposing a fee increase for 2017.
Under the proposal, entrance fees (good for seven days) would increase from $15 to $20 per vehicle during the summer season, May - October. Per-person and motorcycle fees during the high season would increase from $8 to $10, and an annual park pass would go from $30 to $40.
An open house to discuss the fees and take public comment will be held at 6 p.m., Tues., Sept. 13, at First National Bank, 2258 E Main St., Cortez.
 “We are committed to keeping the park affordable, but we also want to provide visitors with the best possible experience,” Mesa Verde National Park Superintendent Cliff Spencer said in a news release. “The money from entrance fees is used to improve visitor facilities and amenities. The revised fees will help us offset increased costs for construction and rehabilitation.”
Entrance fees have previously paid for water stations; visitor educational; restrooms; and stabilization work at Spruce Tree and Cliff Palace. Additional revenue from a fee increase would help with the rehabilitation of the Morefield Amphitheater, additional stabilization work, infrastructure maintenance and educational opportunities.
According to park officials, Mesa Verde is a strong economic engine for the area. In 2015, 547,325 people visited the park, pumping an estimated $55.4 million into local economies. The 52,000-acre park contains nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, making it one of the richest and best preserved historical sites in the country.
Open house attendees are asked to register in advance by calling the park at 970-529-4682 by Mon., Sept. 12. Comments can also be submitted at parkplan ning.nps.gov/MEVE66815. Deadline to comment is 5 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 15.