> I know it is
> trendy to criticize the government when
> times are tough, especially when sounding
> off on an anonymous internet message board,
> but show some sympathy toward Steamtown's
> management. I'm sure they too are concerned
> about the best interests of the park but
> must make some hard decisions in the
> interim.

Frank J. misses the point about Steamtown. The place gets a lot of money when you think about the number of visitors it gets. They have a large percentage of the paid staff that is mananagement, much of which appears to be superflous. The point is that they are not making decisions that are in the best interests of the park, the visitors, and especially the taxpayer.

Actually, I don't miss the point at all. An historic site as large as Steamtown is a complex operation at best with a high overhead/maintenance budget that probably rivals (or exceeds) salaries. Think about how expensive it is to maintain operation equipment and facilities and you'll understand what I mean really quick Mr. Observer.

By the way, all national parks are taking an substantial budget cut this year. Gettysburg reported that they have a $6M decrease in their budget this FY.

> Frank J. misses the point about Steamtown.
> The place gets a lot of money when you think
> about the number of visitors it gets. They
> have a large percentage of the paid staff
> that is mananagement, much of which appears
> to be superflous. The point is that they are
> not making decisions that are in the best
> interests of the park, the visitors, and
> especially the taxpayer.

Hi,

One item I'd like to point out about the National Park Service is its gate receipts.

I used to give extra money when entering a National Park to support that site.

About 8-10 years ago, I found out and confirmed it through my Congressional representatives that ALL national park gate receipts (and I think the souvinier sales also) do not go to the NPS but instead to the US government general fund. Which means that the money you pay to the NPS may end up as food money for Somalia or money for helping homeless in Miami.

If there is a clearly defined donation box that says that the money goes to the park you are in, that is the only way you can be sure it goes where you want.

Yes, the NPS has lots of receipts, but Congress designates where the funds go.

Doug vV


douglasvanveelen@mindspring.com

> Hi,

> One item I'd like to point out about the
> National Park Service is its gate receipts.

> I used to give extra money when entering a
> National Park to support that site.

> About 8-10 years ago, I found out and
> confirmed it through my Congressional
> representatives that ALL national park gate
> receipts (and I think the souvinier sales
> also) do not go to the NPS but instead to
> the US government general fund. Which means
> that the money you pay to the NPS may end up
> as food money for Somalia or money for
> helping homeless in Miami.

> If there is a clearly defined donation box
> that says that the money goes to the park
> you are in, that is the only way you can be
> sure it goes where you want.

> Yes, the NPS has lots of receipts, but
> Congress designates where the funds go.

> Doug vV

I have a friend who is a government auditor. He thinks that there was some change to the business about gate reciepts.

The sales at the bookstore do help the individual park because the money they make is used to help that park. This is how Steamtown acquired the tank car in front of the bookstore.

As for the collection points where money is collected, nobody knows how the money is used, who or how its collected.



voxverum@yahoo.com

If the gate receipts have changed since I looked into it, GREAT. It needed to be changed.

Thanks for the update.

DvV


douglasvanveelen@mindspring.com

> They
> have a large percentage of the paid staff
> that is mananagement, much of which appears
> to be superflous.

Respectfully, I do not think you understand what many of the staff are doing. The SNHS program is far more than car and locomotive repairing or train running.

Now, does the SNHS "management" you seem to disdain have to shuffle a lot of papers? Yeppers. That is what goes with a GS-11, -12 or -13 rating. However, are they a valuable national resource? Definitely so.

amiller@rtms-movietrains.com

> Frank J. misses the point about Steamtown.
> The place gets a lot of money when you think
> about the number of visitors it gets.

That doesn't sound that strange to me. The Saugus Iron Works -NHS (in Saugus, MA) receives somewhere in the neighborhood of 14,000 visitors, on 9 acres, and has an annual budget of over $800,000. That's $57. per person.

By comparison Minuteman National Park in Lexington, MA receives slightly more than a million annual visitors and has a budget of over $2 million. Minuteman also maintains nearly 1000 acres.

Surely there are plenty more Steamtowns out there in the national park system which cost more to run than they take in at the gate, but I for one am happy to have them.


SJHussar@aol.com