I wonder what they'd do with the animals in a privatized National Park?

PZ Myers points out this post at Northstate Science which discusses the 24 year old college drop out who attempted to censor NASA scientists. (The News that George Deutsch had never finished college was brought to light by blogger Nick Anthis of Scientific Activist.) Deutsch was appointed to his post at NASA by the Bush administration for his efforts on the campaign trail. As Northstate Science points out there is a similar situation taking place in our national parks:

"...under the direction of Assistant Secretary of the Interior Paul Hoffman, the Park Service is re-writing its management policy guides. These reflect the larger vision expressed by the Park Service for management of our national parks and will guide the manner in which future policies and decisions are implemented."

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The new guidelines would drop mention of evolution from National Park materials, they would drop scientific standards for manging the parks, and they would turn back policies aimed at the environmental protection of the parks. These rewrites come from a "former Cody, Wyoming Chamber of Commerce staffer with no National Parks experience"naturally.

This is a great blog and a great article about continued efforts to privatize our National Parks. It makes mention of these articles in the George Wright forum which discuss the prospects for privatizing various aspects of our National Parks.

Privatization: An Overview
Maurice H. Schwartz, guest editor

Privatization: An Overview—Introduction and Summary / Maurice H. Schwartz

From Public to Private: Five Concepts of Park Management and Their Consequences / Thomas A. More

The Greater Realities of Privatization: A Historian’s Perspective / Alfred Runte

Entrepreneurism in America’s State Parks / Ney C. Landrum

Beyond the Public Park Paradigm / Sylvia LeRoy

Competitive Sourcing in Our National Parks / Geoffrey F. Segal

The Effects of Neo-Conservatism on Park Science, Management, and Administration: Examples and a Discussion / John Shultis

Forces Underlying the Emergence of Privatization in Parks and Recreation
(Executive Summary) / John L. Crompton

A New Tragedy for the Commons: The Threat of Privatization to National Parks (and Other Public Lands) / Bill Wade

The Recreation Fee Demonstration Program and Beyond / Scott Silver

Everyone who wishes to pass the National Parks we inherited from our grandparents, on to our grandshildren should go here and get involved.

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