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National Parks Service employees: campaigning for the Bush administration, whether they want to or not.

Superintendents are now required to refer to budget cuts as "service-level adjustments," and they're advised to avoid the topic when possible. "[I]f you feel you must inform the public through a press release on this years [sic] hours or days of operation for example ... [do not] directly indicate that 'this is a cut' in comparison to last year's operation," ordered an internal memo sent in February to superintendents by a regional park service official, speaking on behalf of NPS Deputy Director Randy Jones.

Here's one suggested statement from the list of budget talking points: "This administration is very committed to preserving the resources of the National Park System ... Despite the challenges, NPS has fared well under President Bush with steady increases to the agency's budget."

[snip]

Budget issues are not the only area where commentary is being tightly controlled, though. All NPS superintendents received talking points on the subject of air quality in national parks on April 14, one day before eight of the nation's largest national parks were declared to be in violation of new standards for ozone pollution.

Not only did the air-quality talking points downplay pollution problems, but they played up the purported benefits of Bush's air policies and proposals: "The air in our most visited park, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, will be substantially improved by the strong new Bush administration regulations," read one. "Clear Skies should do for visibility in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park what the Acid Rain Trading Program did for acid rain reductions in the Adirondacks; namely, 100 percent compliance with no lawsuits," read another.

Minor, in the grand scheme of things, but honestly. How cynical and manipulative can you get?