Yet, here we are, with people and the government unable to stop furloughs, job losses, and lower revenue to keep the government functioning. Our public lands have certainly not been spared from this indiscriminate budget ax.
Sweeping federal budget cuts are already seriously impacting wild lands across the nation. Agencies that manage America's lands are struggling to cope with inadequate funding.
Alan Rowsome, director of conservation funding, gave testimony before the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. This is one of the committees that determine the annual budgets for National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, and other wild lands.
This year, National Parks Week is April 20th through 28th. As part of that, you can visit any National park for free from Monday, April 22 through Friday, April 26.
In honor of its birthday, we have chosen Arches National Park in Utah as our Friday mystery photo. Arches was actually first established as a national monument on April 12, 1929.
It wasn't until 1971 that Arches gained its national park designation.
