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Skriven 2007-02-07 23:31:16 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0702074) for Wed, 2007 Feb 7
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President and Mrs. Bush Participate in Roundtable on the National Parks
Centennial Initiative
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 7, 2007

President and Mrs. Bush Participate in Roundtable on the National Parks
Centennial Initiative
Harry F. Byrd, Sr. Visitors Center Shenandoah National Park Luray, Virginia

Mrs. Bush's Remarks

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: The National Parks Centennial Initiative ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus:
Environment

11:59 A.M. EST

SECRETARY KEMPTHORNE: Mr. President, and First Lady Laura Bush, on behalf
of all of the wonderful people of the National Parks Service, it is such an
honor to have the First Couple here at this wonderful national park. And,
ladies and gentlemen, those of you who are here at the roundtable, we look
forward to this opportunity to have some discussions with you.

But we'd be very honored, Mr. President, just to get initial thoughts from
you. As I introduce our President, let me just put it in this perspective:
Two years ago, my wife, Patricia, and I had the great opportunity to spend
three days with the President and the First Lady in Idaho, to see this
couple, what the outdoors mean to them, how they recreate, how they
replenish their energy. I just saw their connection. We went fishing,
hiking, biking. I went home tired. (Laughter.) They went home with renewed
energy.

MRS. BUSH: Refreshed.

SECRETARY KEMPTHORNE: And I think that you see that same sort of approach
-- their love of the outdoors -- in this President's Centennial Challenge
Initiative.

So, Mr. President, thank you for all you're doing.

THE PRESIDENT: One of the reasons I asked Dirk to be the Secretary of the
Interior is because I knew that he knew how important parks are to the
country. And I want to thank you and Mary for taking on your big jobs. Our
national parks are really one of America's great treasures. And the
fundamental question is, are we going to be wise enough to treat them as
such?

When I first came into office, I was worried about a significant backlog of
maintenance projects, and I want to thank Dirk for seeing through the
completion or near completion of about 6,600 such projects.

And in our discussions, we talked about how to make sure the 100th
anniversary of our parks, coming in 2016, really celebrates the National
Park System. And so today we're going to talk about an initiative called
the National Parks Centennial Initiative. And I'm looking forward to
hearing from our fellow citizens about ways to make sure this initiative
fully honors the Park System.

It is one thing to talk; it's another thing to act. And I've just submitted
a budget to the United States Congress. In it we've got a billion dollars
new money for operating expenses. And that really helps to honor those who
work hard in our Park System. I really love being with our park rangers.
These are dedicated people who have got a pretty cool job, when you think
about it. (Laughter.) I just want to make sure that they got the money able
to do their job.

As well, we look forward to having a public-private partnership. The
federal government will match monies raised in the private sector up to a
billion dollars. Our idea is to have $3 billion new money available for
this important initiative. And I know that Dirk is going to work hard to
make sure that people have their say as to how this money is spent.

And one person who has got a lot of say about the parks, in our family, is
Laura. She is very much involved in our parks. She loves the outdoors. She
takes a hike with her old high school buddies once a year to herald the
Park System. If my entourage wasn't so big, I'd be with her. (Laughter.)
But it's big. (Laughter.) So I stay at home.

But I really do appreciate Dirk and Mary and you all joining us. I'm
looking forward to our discussion.

MRS. BUSH: Well, I just want to say how important the national parks are to
me, personally important, because of all the times that I've had the
opportunity to hike in our national parks, to camp in our national parks.
I've traveled -- hiked every summer with a group of women that I grew up
with in Midland. We all live in different parts of the country now, but we
meet in a national park. We've mainly hiked in our big Western national
parks: Yosemite; Yellowstone; Glacier; Olympic National Park; the Grand
Canyon -- which we've done twice, once a Colorado River trip, and then
hiking out the South Rim; the second time with our daughters, which was a
lot harder than the first time, when we were a lot younger ourselves.

Our national parks -- the wildness of our national parks is one of the
things I really like. Also, we live in a national park. The White House is
considered a national park. The national parks include many of our most
historical sites, the sites in our country that are shrines to our history.
And that's also a very, very important part of the national parks.

But the part that I've loved is the wildness, the opportunity to be back,
far back in the back country, where you don't see a lot of people, where
you have a chance to birdwatch or do all the other things that we like to
see -- you run into a bear every once in a while, which we have. Last
summer we were in Denali, deep in Denali, in Alaska, and got to add to our
life list of birds, a lot of birds that we wouldn't have ever had the
chance to see if we hadn't been back deep in our wilderness.

So I want to congratulate Dirk. I want to thank President Bush for this
major initiative for our national parks. It's very, very important for our
country to make sure, as we come upon the centennial in 2016, that our
national parks are treated with the respect that we want them to be treated
with -- and it also gives us a chance to educate the stewards of our
national parks that will come after us.

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks.

SECRETARY KEMPTHORNE: Mr. President and Laura, thanks very much for your
opening comments. And we think about, in the 20th century, really one of
the great figures was Theodore Roosevelt, who really convened the
opportunities for America to focus on conservation and on our national
parks. In the 21st century, Mr. President, I believe you have now caused
America to focus on our national parks with this bold initiative.

This is something that is extremely well received by the National Park
Service -- the excitement when we briefed them the last few days -- and
then many groups that -- their advocation, their passion and dedication is
to see that these national parks become all that they can for all the
people to enjoy, and that the second 100 years are every bit as fantastic.
So what you have done, Mr. President, you have infused such an energy with
this budget that for the 21st century, this will be one of those hallmarks
of your presidency. And I think Theodore Roosevelt would be very proud of
you. (Laughter.)

With that, I'm going to introduce the other members at the roundtable. Mary
Bomar, who is our National Park Service Director -- she is the first
naturalized citizen in the United States to become director of the National
Park Service. In just a moment, Mary I'll ask you for some comments.

Vin Cipolla, who is the President of the National Park Foundation. And he's
been there for just a couple of years. And his leadership which he has
brought to the foundation is just getting such high marks.

Derrick Crandall, who is the -- and I look at this -- the President and CEO
of the American Recreation Coalition. He's been called, interestingly
enough, the "recreation guru" by USA Today. He has been able to bring about
organization of over 100 different entities that all believe in the
outdoors, and his advocacy of the outdoors.

Gene Sykes, who is the Chairman of the National Parks Conservation
Association. Gene is a managing partner of Goldman Sachs. I know if your
love of the outdoors, the backpacking that you do repeatedly, and your
particular love of the parks in Alaska.

Fred Andreae, who is a trustee, Shenandoah National Park Trust. Fred is one
of these examples that, as you look at the 90 years of the National Park
Service, the reason they have been able to achieve greatness is because of
the partnership with philanthropic communities, with friends of the parks.
And, Fred, you have established that here at Shenandoah Park. We truly
appreciate that.

Chas Cartwright, who is the superintendent of this magnificent park. And
you just say the name Shenandoah, and it's so historic and it conjures up
so many great things. I also noted that in the '70s, you were a river
ranger on the Salmon River in Idaho. (Laughter.)

MR. CARTWRIGHT: I remember it fondly.

SECRETARY KEMPTHORNE: Yes, I knew that we would bond. (Laughter.)

With that, let me turn to Mary Bomar for her comments.

DIRECTOR BOMAR: Thank you very much. Thank you, Secretary. Well, first of
all, good afternoon to everybody. I met with Mrs. Bush yesterday. And
again, it was so revitalizing. And your enthusiasm -- you are a true
champion of our national parks, as is your husband, the President.

Thank you very much, first of all, for allowing me the opportunity to serve
under this administration and be the 17th director of the National Park
Service. But also, on behalf of the 20,000-plus men and women of the
National Park Service in the gray and green out in these national
treasures, thank you on their behalf.

I said again, you've seen Mrs. Bush often in the past with the junior
ranger program. This budget will bring a renewed emphasis with a web ranger
program that's going to be online. This puts 3,000 seasonal positions, the
flat hats, gray and green, back out in the parks, on the trails. This
budget will bring extended hours.

And we've listened to our superintendents when they've said to us, what do
you need for your parks, and it is money and operations. This budget brings
full fixed costs to the salaries for our employees. And I'm telling you,
there is a great buzz going on in the national parks with our folks. But
the bottom line is really to take care of the visitors in America. And what
that budget does, bottom line is it puts our staff out in the parks to make
sure that our visitors receive the very best experience.

The 2008 budget is not just about people, as I said, it's about -- tourism
is very big to our parks, and we want to make sure they get the very best
experience. And our National Park Service rangers, when they heard about
3,000 seasonals -- and, Chas, I know you will address that, what it does
for this park alone. Some parks will have over 112, 115 seasonal rangers in
maintenance, law enforcement, and interpretation now serving the public --
cleaner restrooms, cleaner beaches.

Our partners make a huge difference. The National Park Foundation with Vin
Cipolla, and the people around this table and behind me. We work with our
communities and our partners, and we couldn't do it without them.

I leave on a very simple note. I'm very honored to be the director leading
the National Park Service. I have to thank this gentleman, the Secretary,
on my right. He brings a wonderful vitality and energy and endless support,
terrific advocate to the National Park Service. Thank you for all your hard
work, working with the budget.

There are special places in America that unite us all as Americans, and
Shenandoah is one of those special places. I am honored to be here today to
represent the National Park Service. Thank you, President Bush, and thank
you, Mrs. Bush.

SECRETARY KEMPTHORNE: Thank you, Mary.

Mr. President, you mentioned -- I thought this would be of note, because
really it builds upon an initiative you started five years ago -- and the
President referenced the 6,600 projects that were a backlog of deferred
maintenance. Here they are. These are the projects. And it just shows you
what has already been underway during these last five years. I mean, this
is significant. Now we build upon this.

And this initiative which you have launched is not partisan; it is
American. This is something that all of America can rally around, and I
think this will be the reaffirmation of the parks being one of the greatest
gifts to the American family.

Chas Cartwright, would you make a few comments please about the new
perspective?

MR. CARTWRIGHT: I would be happy to. I'd like to welcome everybody to
Shenandoah National Park -- beautiful, snowy -- (laughter) -- and just say
that it's great to have such distinguished guests and everybody else here.

Shenandoah National Park has experienced a serious decline in visitation
over the last 10 to 15 years. So I'm sure it comes as no surprise that our
big job is how to connect and reconnect people with the park.

And we take very seriously our responsibilities as stewards of the money
that we're given, and we've made the business decisions over the years to
manage within our budget. But it's made that connection and reconnection
effort more difficult. And what the Centennial Initiative does, it's going
to get us there much faster. And it's needed, and it reflects an extremely
high level of support from the President, from the Secretary, from you,
Mary. And it's support for parks, and it's support for the men and women of
the National Park Service, which is a great thing.

This funding for Shenandoah would mean $1.6 million -- $1 million in base
funding, funding for seasonals, funding for a permanent volunteer
coordinator. And we all know that volunteers are great, but it's much
better when you have somebody that's directing those efforts. This would
truly be a big deal for Shenandoah National Park. And it's something that,
getting back to this reconnection piece, we really want to get new
constituents out here to enjoy the park.

The Presidential Challenge piece will provide philanthropic partners like
the Shenandoah National Park Trust and the park with some great
opportunities for partnering. And we really look forward to work with
organizations like the Shenandoah National Park Trust and surrounding
communities in identifying projects that really get at key resource needs
and improve the quality of the visitor experience.

So I just wanted to say, it's great having everybody here today. And thanks
to the employees of Shenandoah National Park for doing such a great job.

THE PRESIDENT: Particularly the guy who cleared the road. (Laughter.)
Listen, we want to thank you for your contributions here. We'll here from
the other members here in a second. I do want to say something to follow up
on this, and Congress needs to hear loud and clear how important this
initiative is. And I fully hope the citizens groups who are concerned about
the parks beat a hasty trail to the Congress and remind the Congress about
what we have done and what we need to do as good stewards of the parks.

Anyway, thank you all.

END 12:10 P.M. EST

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