Author Archives: Shawn E. Bell

In a recent opinion piece by Eva Soltes, Jennifer Collins, and Karen Lowe in the San Bernardino County Sun, the authors lay out how the Sequester will damage our local economies – especially those around Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park and the Mojave National Preserve.

From the article:

Examples of these budget cuts are as follows: Joshua Tree National Park has been forced to impose a hiring freeze on permanent positions including those that make up the backbone of operations (law enforcement, maintenance and interpretation divisions). The park has also had to delay filling some seasonal park ranger positions, including those that interact directly with the visiting public. In addition, Joshua Tree National Park has had to reduce the procurement of supplies and materials, which means they have little or no flexibility in dealing with road damage, the failure of critical infrastructure like visitor center air conditioning, or vandalism of buildings, bathrooms or picnic tables at campgrounds. Finally, the park has had to eliminate all employee travel and training unless it deals with human health and safety. This puts the park’s resources staff at a grave disadvantage — a staff that needs to continually obtain the latest scientific training in restoration, invasive species elimination, managing endangered species and preserving archaeological sites.

You can read the full article HERE.