For Immediate Release: Monday, September 13, 2004
Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337
Washington, DC - Yellowstone National Park has been illegally using lease
funds from telecommunications companies to pay staff salaries and other
expenses, according to internal records released today by Public Employees
for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Over the last several years, the National Park Service (NPS) issued six
rights-of-way for cell phone towers in Yellowstone National Park. Two are
issued to Union Telephone Company of Wyoming. Four were issued to interests
now owned by Western Wireless Corporation. The annual fee from these two
companies covers both the cost of administering the right-of-way and the
rental for the use of federal land. The former funds are allowed to remain
within the park to defray their costs. However, funds derived from the
rental of land are to be deposited with the U.S. Treasury, as miscellaneous
receipts.
Yellowstone National Park collects land rental fees of $500 per month for
each of the six rights-of-way, for a total of $36,000 each year. Yellowstone
has failed to deposit these funds in the U.S. Treasury in violation of law
and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-25 that states "Unless a
statute provides otherwise, user charge collections will be credited to the
general fund of the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, as required by 31
U.S.C. 3302." Instead, park officials have used the monies derived from
leasing parkland to pay for employee salaries and other park expenses.
"The retention of rental fees from rights-of-way in park operating budgets
is not just improper, it creates a positive incentive for a park manager to
say 'yes' to a prospective right-of-way applicant," stated PEER Board Member
Frank Buono, a former long-time NPS manager. "Imagine if parks such as Lake
Mead or Glen Canyon could keep revenues in their budget derived from
royalties on mineral leases. One would reasonably expect more mineral
leases. For this reason, funds derived from the sale or lease of Federal
lands and resources must not be retained. There are already enough pressures
influencing a manager's decisions. We do not need to add the temptation of
un-appropriated cash."
A related impropriety involves the NPS obtaining in-kind services from the
lessee, and then reducing the amount of the rental due. At Yellowstone, the
NPS received 70 free cell phones from MetaCom and 5,000 free minutes per
month.
"No matter how strapped the park budget may be, there is no excuse for
Yellowstone's conduct," added Buono, noting that one cell tower was
illegally sited overlooking the Old Faithful Historic District, without
required public notice and in violation of its permit conditions. "The
National Park Service is not entitled to sell our natural birthright for a
few shekels."