Because the livelihood of many citizens is linked to the management of national parks, local politicians often encourage state involvement in federal planning. But, state legislatures have not always addressed the fundamental policy issues of whether states should protect park wildlife. Timber harvesting, ranching and energy exploration compete with wildlife within the local ecosystem. Priorities among different land uses are not generally established by current legislation. Additionally, often no mechanism exists to coordinate planning by the state environmental regulatory agencies. These factors limit the impact of legislation aimed at protecting park wildlife and the larger park ecosystem. Even if these deficiencies can be overcome, state participation must be consistent with existing federal legislation. States, themselves, lack jurisdiction within national parks and, therefore, state solutions cannot reach activities inside the parks, thus limiting state action to the land adjacent to the national parks.

1. The passage provides support for which of the following assertions?

A. Timber harvesting and ranching are the main activities that are responsible for the decline of national parks.
B. The federal government has been selling national park land to state governments in order to raise money for wildlife conservation.
C. The actions of state governments have often failed to promote the interests of national park wildlife.
D. Local politicians want the federal government to turn control of national parks over to state governments.
E. States have the authority to control the harmful activities being carried out inside national parks.



2. Select the sentence in the passage which highlights some of the activities that are harming national parks.