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Agency Budget Summary
Department of the Interior
National Park Service
I. Resource Summary
II. Methodology
- The National Park Service develops its drug control budget based on tracking of actual FTE usage in the field, a review of prior year expenditures as tracked by Program Work Element (PWE) and a projection of costs associated with support needed for FTE usage.
III. Program Summary
- The National Park Service's (NPS) anti-drug program represents a small portion of its law enforcement activities, comprising less than one percent of the agency's budget. NPS drug cases involve the use, possession, sale, distribution, smuggling, manufacture, and cultivation of various controlled substances in park areas.
- The National Park System manages its drug control programs at the park level, augmented by the U.S. Park Police in major urban areas. The U.S. Park Police consists of uniformed and nonuniformed police officers who perform the same level of work and diverse duties as any urban police department. The primary presence of the U.S. Park Police is in the District of Columbia; however, officers are also routinely assigned to Maryland and Virginia, to the New York Field Office, to the San Francisco Field Office, and to several other areas of the country. The work done at the park level and by the U.S. Park Police reaches across all five strategic goals of the Strategy.
- Some of the specific purposes of NPS' law enforcement program (NPS Park Rangers), as it relates to drug enforcement, are to locate and eradicate marijuana plants being cultivated on park lands, to combat drug use, distribution, and smuggling in National Park areas, and to work cooperatively with other federal, state, and local agencies in mutual drug enforcement operations in areas contiguous to park boundaries.
- The National Park System contains 378 diverse and unique areas, including parks, monuments, historic sites, trails, and recreational areas. NPS administers more that 80 million acres in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. NPS programs are oriented toward the fundamental mission of natural and cultural resource protection and interpretation while also promoting outdoor recreation, historic preservation, and environmental awareness. NPS works closely with states, local governments, and community groups to accomplish these goals.
- Many park areas are located in or near known drug smuggling or trafficking routes. Cases involving the use/possession, sale/distribution, smuggling, manufacturing, and cultivation of controlled substances occur routinely in park areas. Roughly 365 miles of the 1,700 miles of this country's border with Mexico are in units of the National Park System and significant percentages of the coastlines of a number of states in which smuggling occurs also lie within park areas (22 percent of the coast of Florida, 31 percent of Georgia, 42 percent of North Carolina, 50 percent of Maryland, 35 percent of Virginia, and 20 percent of California).
IV. Budget Summary
1999 Program
Goal 1: Educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as well as the use of alcohol and tobacco.
- The FY 1999 resources include $0.154 million which supports Goal 1 of the Strategy. This funding increases public education for the purpose of increasing public awareness of the consequences of illicit drug use and the use of alcohol and tobacco by underage populations.
Goal 2: Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.
- The FY 1999 resources include $0.747 million which supports Goal 2 of the Strategy. This funding includes $0.689 million to increase support for Task Force operations that target all levels of drug trafficking and drug crime, and to improve the efficiency of federal drug law enforcement investigative and intelligence programs. An additional $0.036 million funding is to increase the effectiveness of federal, state, and local law enforcement tasks, and to improve the efficiency of federal drug law enforcement investigative and intelligence programs to apprehend drug traffickers, seize their drugs, and forfeit their assets.
Goal 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.
- The FY 1999 resources include $0.316 million which supports Goal 3 of the Strategy. This funding expands and enhances drug education and prevention strategies in the workplace.
Goal 4: Shield America's air, land, and sea frontiers from the drug threat.
- The FY 1999 resources include $1.9 million which supports Goal 4 of the Strategy. This funding is to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement to stop the flow of drugs into the United States, especially along the Southwest Border.
Goal 5: Break foreign and domestic drug sources of supply.
- The FY 1999 resources include $6.337 million which supports Goal 5 of the Strategy. This includes $6.087 million to reduce domestic drug production and availability, including the illegal diversion of prescription drugs, and $0.25 million to continue to target for prosecution those who illegally divert pharmaceuticals and listed chemicals.
2000 Request
- The total FY 2000 drug control budget request is $9.515 million, approximating the FY 1999 enacted level. No new initiatives are associated with this funding.
V. Program Accomplishments
- NPS Park Rangers have been intercepting sizeable loads of processed marijuana (in some cases over 1,000 pounds) coming across the Southwest Border. They are also seizing vehicles, firearms, and other types of drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine.
- The value of cash, vehicles, and radios seized in 1998 totaled over $117,000. NPS Park Rangers and investigators responded to 2,389 drug cases, arrested 2,400 persons and confiscated 10 vehicles and 80 weapons during this period. During 1998, the NPS eradicated 271,590 marijuana and sensimilla plants. The estimated value of drugs destroyed is $216,592,000.
- During 1998, the U.S. Park Police responded to 1,870 reported drug incidents and arrested 1,226 persons for drug violations. The Park Police confiscated narcotics valued in excess of $560,967 and seized over $715,080 in cash and other assets and 68 firearms (machine guns, automatic pistols, shotguns and rifles) were confiscated and 309 search warrants were executed.
- In 1998 NPS Park Rangers participated in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program at 17 schools. The D.A.R.E. program is aimed at educating elementary and junior high school students to the dangers of drug use and the loss of self-esteem by those who abuse drugs.
- The U.S. Park Police are also active in the Project D.A.R.E. program, providing drug awareness education to 22 schools, encompassing 1,500 students in Maryland, the District of Columbia, New York, and California. Nineteen officers serve as active instructors.
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