Interior memo told park heads to spin cuts

From The Salt Lake Tribune:

… a Feb. 20 e-mail to park superintendents in the northeastern United States that outlined potentially controversial cuts by Park Service Deputy Director Randy Jones. Among the cutbacks: reducing the number of lifeguards on beaches, eliminating all ranger-guided tours, not cutting lawns, privatizing campgrounds and closing parks “every Sunday and Monday” this summer season. The memo told superintendents that Jones said to refrain from issuing news releases about the cuts.

“He suggested that if you feel you must inform the public through a press release on this year’s hours or days of operation, for example, that you state what the park’s plans are and not to directly indicate that ‘this is a cut’ in comparison to last year’s operation,” reads the e-mail, apparently written by Northeastern Deputy Regional Director Sandy Walters. If pressed, “use the terminology of ‘service level adjustment’ due to fiscal constraints” to describe the cuts, the memo said.

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