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E� The order was later rescinded by Mainella, who testified at a Senate hearing that there had been "misunderstandings." No maintenance backlog funds "have been or will be used on com- petitive sourcing at any location," she told the senators. More- over, she said, no jobs at Mount Rainier would be studied for possible private- sector replacement in the next two years. Earlier, in an internal memo to her superiors at the Depart- ment of the Interior, Mainella had voiced misgivings about "sev- eral major issues" that would have to be addressed before mov- ing ahead on competitive sourcing. A main concern was the cost of the studies. "Consultant costs could be as high as $2.5 to $3 million," she wrote, and that did not include the indirect costs incurred when park staff are "taken off other priority projects" to assist the consultants. "The costs are too significant to be cov- ered by the affected parks as some in the [Interior] Department have suggested." Given continuing budget restraints, "covering these [new] costs would have serious consequences for visitor services and seasonal operations." I had been .told that Mainella was reprimanded for the memo. She denied this when I talked to her, saying instead it "helped us to bring on good conversation for all." But she downplayed the ramifications of competitive sourcing, prefer- ring to characterize it now as "a competitive review that is looking at a few jobs without asking the private sector to bid against them." She added, "We want to improve how we do business without anyone losing a job. " The Park Service cares for more than 26,000 historic structures, such as Lookout Studio at the Grand Canyon, above. Nearly two - thirds need serious repair, with the bill surpassing $1 billion. At Great Smoky, vandals have defaced centuries -old timbers on a pioneer cabin, left. The 162 -year -ofd Federal Hall National Memorial, top, was damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center. IN SEPTEMBER 200o, presidential candidate George W. Bush announced that America's national parks were in poor condition and that if elected, he would fix them. `A significant commitment must be made to alleviate the $4.9 billion major maintenance and resource protection backlog," a campaign paper asserted, "to restore our national parks and ensure a positive legacy of pro- tecting our cultural, natural and recreational resources for Amer- icans today and in the future. Therefore, as President, Governor Bush will eliminate within five years the ... backlog." But after President Bush's second year in the White House, "eluninating' the maintenance backlog had been changed —in the Interior Department's budget documents —to °managing" the backlog, or simply "addressing' it. Meanwhile, a report early last year by Congress's fiscal watchdog, the General Accounting Office, found that catching up with deferred maintenance might actually cost as much'as $6.8 billion. The administration, however, insisted that funding of the National Park System was not only adequate but right on track to fulfill the President's commitment. On budget matters, the Park Service's official spokesperson JanuarylFebruary 2004 PRESERVATION 29