Small Company Vows To Save America’s National Parks With New Catalog

Tigard, Oregon, - - November 3, 1999 (Xpress Press)- Backing their "passion for the parks" with their own money, two entrepreneurs have produced an upscale national park catalog designed to bring attention and additional funding to America’s cash-strapped national parks.

Filled with exclusive national park art, limited edition collectibles, handcrafted gifts and classics like National Parks Monopoly, View-Master Viewers with 3-D National Park reels, and Pendleton National Park blankets, The Parks Company National Park catalog carries over 500 national park products. The company donates 5% of its gross sales profits to nonprofit national park support groups at parks like Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Rocky Mountain, Crater Lake, Sequoia, Big Bend, Isle Royale and Virgin Islands National Parks.

"The National Park Service has a $9 billion budget ‘gap’ of repair, maintenance and preservation work going undone due to lack of funding," says Joe Galliani, Founding Partner of The Parks Company. "The national parks are facing a crisis and unless we take a stand right here, right now, we fail our responsibility to turn the parks over to the next generation in better, not worse shape than we found them."

Completely self financed by Galliani and Founding Partner, Mike Baggetta, The Parks Company National Park Catalog is the first and only catalog celebrating America’s national parks and donating a portion of each sale to them. Despite operating in the red for its first two years in business, and paying its owners no salaries, The Parks Company has raised and donated over $20,000 to improve different national parks.

"We know The Parks Company can’t raise the whole $9 billion," adds Galliani. "That’s why we’ve created ‘One For The Parks’ a grass roots campaign to require that 1% of the federal budget surplus be used to pay off the park budget gap.

"1% of a trillion dollar surplus would give the national parks a chance to start the 21st century with an honest chance to survive. After suffering for the last 30 years under our generation’s watch, this is a historic opportunity to repair and restore the parks for our children and our children’s children."

Do the two catalogers really think they stand a chance of getting a slice of the surplus pie that so many special interests are fighting over?

Baggetta agrees its an uphill fight but remains optimistic, "We’ve traveled across America visiting national parks the last two years, and even with all the other budget priorities, we have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t believe the parks deserve at least 1%. "

The Parks Company’s just published Third Edition National Park Catalog is available in its entirety at www.theparksco.com and free through the mail via either a web request or by calling, toll free 888-727-5726.

Interview Contact: Joe Galliani, Founding Partner
Telephone: (310)373-7892
Joe@theparksco.com
http://www.theparksco.com

The Parks Company
16285 85th Ave, Suite 411
Tigard, OR USA 97224-5420
Voice phone (888)596-4004 (USA 011) or (503)670-1977