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Gateway National Recreation Area received the lowest score of any national park in a study released last week because of chronic underfunding and the fallout from decades of New York City development, Gateway officials and park advocates say.In its study, the National Parks Conservation Association considered the state of the natural and cultural resources in the 26,607 acre area. In addition to its Jamaica Bay Unit, which includes land along the south shores of Brooklyn and mainland Queens and on the Rockaway Peninsula, Gateway includes units in Sandy Hook, N.J., Brooklyn and Staten Island. The three units were studied collectively.
Gateway’s natural resources received a score of 53 out of a possible 100. Its cultural resources received a 46 out of 100. Of the 32 national parks whose natural resources were evaluated and of the 41 national parks whose cultural resources were evaluated, Gateway fared the worst, according to Alexander Brash, the association’s northeast regional director.
When considering the condition of Gateway’s natural resources, scientists took water, soil and air samples throughout the area. Other aspects of the area’s ecosystem were examined, including the composition and conditions of its animal and plant life.
The report stated that the periodic dredging of Jamaica Bay has disrupted its underwater communities and that the area’s natural hydrologic and chemical cycles have been altered by the shrinking area in which natural vegetation can grow. The report also noted the deleterious effects of erosion and longshore currents.
But the report stated that many of Gateway’s shortcomings stem not from mismanagement, but rather from its location on the outskirts of a major city.
Gateway Public Affairs Officer Brian Feeney went further. “When considering the park was formed just 35 years ago from impacted resources located in an urban environment, the issue of the report’s score is not relevant,” he said, adding that Gateway’s natural resources rating came as little surprise.
Sites in less developed areas, such as Denali National Park and Preserve and Zion National Park, located in Alaska and Utah respectively, scored high on their natural resources evaluations, by comparison.
When considering Gateway culturally, scientists looked at its historical, archaeological and ethnographical states. Report authors scored the area’s archaeological condition at 30 out of 100, the worst mark of any category in the Gateway study. The Jamaica Bay Unit contains many historic resources, including Floyd Bennett Field, Fort Tilden and Jacob Riis Park Historic Districts.
But the report states that some areas within these districts are either not used or underutilized. There is little acknowledgement in the Jamaica Bay Unit of the different Native American tribes, such as the Rockaways and Canarsies that once occupied its land.
Conservation association officials listed inadequate funding as one explanation for the poor state of its cultural resources. Of Gateway’s $21 million annual base budget, 95 percent is put toward fixed costs and salaries. The remaining 5 percent is available for discretionary spending.
“There has been some investment in Gateway ... but it’s a far cry from what the park needs,” Brash said.
He added that the problem of insufficient funds extends beyond Gateway. Brash estimated that the National Parks Service, which oversees almost 400 individual sites, is underfunded by $800 million annually.
The report did commend some elements in the Jamaica Bay Unit, including the pilot marshland restoration project on two acres of Big Egg Marsh. At nearby Elders Point, a similar project under way aims to restore between 40 and 60 acres of marshland.
Another highlight listed in the report was the 10-month-old Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, located in Broad Channel. It is heated geothermally, special reflectors amplify the sunlight to reduce its energy needs and its flooring and cabinets are made from sustainably farmed bamboo.
Gateway officials, as of Tuesday afternoon, had yet to fully “digest” the report, according to Feeney. But he said that many of the concerns raised in it would be addressed in their Core Operations Analysis, a periodic self-evaluation that every national park must submit. Gateway’s next analysis will be completed in 2008.
The following year Gateway will release a General Management Plan, which will establish broad goals and an accompanying vision intended to guide the park for its next 30 years.
