Sabattis


Biography

"Sabattis" is a frequent commenter and occasional contributor to National Parks Traveler. He currently prefers to remain anonymous while providing insights on some of the inner-workings of Washington as it relates to National Parks.



Sabattis's Most Recent Comments (view all)
  • 6/19/2009 10:00 am - Pruning the Parks: It Took the Park Service Over 20 Years to Get Out from Under the Kennedy Center : One surely wonders "why" about the commitment to Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (or Blossom Music Center for that matter.) Many major cities in the US have outdoor summer concert venues. Its hard to find anything "National" about Wolf Trap at all, other than that it happens ...
  • 3/20/2009 5:25 am - House Fails to Pass Massive Lands Bill That Would Have Aided National Park System : Congressional leaders have moved quickly on this, using some parliamentary maneuvers in the Senate and an agreement to avoid a filibuster to get the Senate to pass a revised version of the bill and send it back to the House. The procedures used by the Senate on this one mean ...
  • 3/16/2009 10:24 pm - Should Ocmulgee National Monument Be Transformed into a National Park By Stimulus Funds? : One does start to wonder if they shouldn't just rename everything a National Park and be done with it. I would argue though, that what Park Advocates should campaign for would be legislation (ala the Antiquities Act) to allow the President to reclassify the designation of any NPS Property. This ...
  • 3/12/2009 4:59 am - House Fails to Pass Massive Lands Bill That Would Have Aided National Park System : As a little more detail on what happened here, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tried to pass this bill under "suspension of the rules" - a procedure that doesn't allow for amendments, but requires a 2/3 vote for passage. This was important because it was an ordeal to get ...
  • 3/10/2009 9:42 pm - How Valuable Are Fossilized Mammoth Bones To the National Park System? : "But is this site unique enough to be added to the National Park System...?" The career professionals at the National Park Service have apparently answered "yes" to this question, and a quick read of their Final Report makes it clear why. The report can be accessed here: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=442&projectId=12000&documentID=24485 Here is ...
  • 3/05/2009 11:05 pm - When It Comes to National Parks, is it an "Earmark" or Prudent Spending? : In this case the significant issue with earmarking is this: - the National Park Service is given an amount of discretionary funding in the budget - without earmarks, those funds will be directed towards projects determined by the mostly career staff at the National Park Service - withe earmarks, those ...
  • 3/05/2009 10:57 pm - Committee: Keep Mount St. Helens Out of the National Park System : I too am disappointed by what I see as a short-sighted decision by the local committee. The eruption of Mt. St. Helen's is an iconic event in our Nation's history, and it seems to be a very notable omission from the National Park System.
  • 3/05/2009 12:10 am - Stimulating the National Parks: Good For the Short-Term, But Then What? : Yes, the Park Service may have done rather well compared to the Fish&Wildlife Service and BLM, but those agencies tend to have a lot fewer facilities and capital needs than does the National Park Service. And if you start making the comparison outside of land agencies, then the small stimulus ...
  • 3/04/2009 11:45 pm - This Park Has Ties to a Pirate, a Forgotten American Holiday and a Chart-Topping Song : Its interesting that the Treaty of Versailles would not have allowed them to keep New Orleans even had they won. A Park Ranger at Chalmette once told me that the British force engaged at Chalmette had also sailed with two colony ships laden with women, children, and supplies - the ...
  • 3/04/2009 11:43 pm - House Committee Studies Proposal To Expand Saguaro National Park By 975 Acres : One of the amazing experiences at this Park is to stand on the mountain and be able to almost literally trace the Park boundary with your eyes, solely based on the lines of vegetation. This Park is being quickly surrounded by urban development, and is already becoming something of an ...


Sabattis's Most Recent Articles (view all)

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument is Established by Presidential Proclamation

The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument recently proclaimed by President Bush incorporates the USS Arizona Memorial and eight other historic sites in Hawaii, Alaska, and California closely associated with the Pacific Theater of Battle. Adding this Monument to the National Park System helps people appreciate the tremendous geographic scale and complexity of the war and its aftermath.

National Park Service Prepares to Host Millions of Visitors for the Presidential Inauguration and Parade

With crowds predicted to number three-four million or more, the National Park Service is scrambling to accommodate the largest event in its history.

Damage from Tropical Storm Hanna Created Expensive Repair Problems at Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

It’s unusual for a national park in the Mid-Atlantic region to suffer tropical storm damage, but that’s what happened last month to Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park near Washington, DC. Flooding due to torrential rains from Tropical Storm Hanna breached the towpath wall, necessitating repairs that could well be in excess of $1 million.