P.O. Box 284

Marylhurst, OR

97036-0284

888.596.4004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe Galliani - (310) 373-7892
joe@theparksco.com

The Parks Company Assumes "Full Responsibility" For Funding America's National Parks

Thursday, May 4, 2000

TIGARD, OREGON -- Promising to secure the over $8 billion America's National Parks need to end their maintenance and repair crisis, The Parks Company, purveyors of National Parks products and services, announced they would, "Proudly accept full and personal responsibility to get all the funds needed to repair and restore our endangered National Parks," declared Founding Partner, Joe Galliani.

"We're excited about taking on this challenge, and confident we can get the job done," added Mike Baggetta, co-founder. "We have a plan that will pay for all the work the National Parks need without increasing fees or taxes, selling bonds or asking for donations."

The Parks Company, publishers of America's print and on-line National Park catalogs (www.theParksCo.com), was founded in 1995 specifically to raise money and public attention for the National Parks.

"We're shouldering this load because our elected leaders in Washington have not provided the funds our great public treasures deserve," says Galliani. "During the greatest economic boom in our nation's history, they have allowed our parks to fall into a condition we would be ashamed to pass on to the next generation."

According to the National Park Conservation Association (NPCA), "America's National Parks are in more danger today than at any other time."

A 1999 report by NPCA states, "Routine maintenance of the parks' physical infrastructure has fallen behind. Roads are crumbling, roofs are leaking, sewage lines are breaking, and historic structures are falling into disrepair. More important, the research, planning, and management actions necessary to preserve the very resources the parks were established to protect are not getting done."

"It's time to get the politics out of the parks and get the funding they so desperately need in," says Galliani. " It's been over 30 years since we've made system wide improvements in our National Parks. Our One For The Parks plan uses 1% of the federal budget surplus to fix the parks, leaving 99% of the surplus for the other important national priorities."

The Congressional Budget Office in their January 2000 report projects on-budget surpluses at $838 billion to $1.9 trillion over the 2001-2010 period.

The Park Service estimates immediate repair and maintenance needs of $5.6 billion. Other unmet national park needs include land restoration $1.1 billion; employee housing $442 million; $304 million in gas, electric, water and sewer utilities; and approximately $1.4 billion to purchase private lands within park boundaries.

"For five years we've been helping people celebrate and support their National Parks, concludes Galliani. "We know how strongly Americans feel about their parks. This summer we'll use that people power to get the funding."

The Parks Company on-line store at www.theparksco.com and its exclusive print catalog feature over 500 National Park products in the first and only collection of its kind. The Parks Company donates 5% of its gross sales profits to fund repair and improvement projects at individual national parks like at Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, Big Bend, Isle Royale, Glacier, Lassen Volcanic and Virgin Islands National Parks, among others.