The summer of (if memory serves) 1987, as I was finishing up my undergraduate education, I volunteered for a trail-building project. A ten-mile stretch of unused railway was to be converted into a walking/bike path between two small northeast Iowa towns. The rails had already been removed; we had to pull up the ties, pile them up to be hauled away, and then grade the right of way smooth. After that, a contractor would come in and spread gravel. I was fortunate enough to drive one of the tractors with a grader blade, as I was one of the few kids who had experience with that kind of equipment. I volunteered because I thought it was worthwhile work, I got bonus points with my academic advisors, and the fact that there were a lot of girls volunteering didn't hurt any. We got the whole ten miles of path done in less than a month.
Now, in Crater Lake National Park, a one-mile length of trail leading to a dock is being closed for refurbishing of both trail and dock. For three years.
According to a news release from the National Park Service last month, the Cleetwood Cove Trail is currently undergoing some rehabilitation — and will be for the foreseeable future.
“Every year, thousands of park visitors hike this trail to gain access to lakeshore,” the release read.
“The Cleetwood Cove Marina is the launch point for the concession-provided boat tours of Crater Lake and the park’s boats. This project proposes to rehabilitate the trail and related infrastructure to ensure safe access to the lake, provide needed visitor services, and to protect the environment.”
The work will encompass rehabilitation of the trail — “including improvements to trail tread and retaining walls” — reducing the possibility of rock-fall in “identified high risk zones,” replacing “the failed bulkhead/dock with a structurally stable marina,” and updating “the outdated and undersized composting toilets located near the marina.”
There is clearly no incentive for this to be an efficient process.
“The park is planning on starting construction in 2026. Due to the extent [of] work to be completed and short construction seasons, trail closures will be required and are expected during the duration of the 2027 and 2028 summer seasons,” the release explained.
“During this time, no boat tours will be provided and the trail will be closed due to construction and rockfall hazards. If construction goes as planned, the renovated trail will reopen in summer 2029.”
One mile of trail, and a marina. This should be done this summer. If there was any incentive to get this done ahead of time and under budget, it probably would have been done this summer. I'm not familiar, granted, with the marina in question, but one mile of trail should be able to be graded and resurfaced in a few days - and whatever this marina is, three years is too long. Were this a private project, it would be done in far less time. According to the current plan, they aren't even breaking ground until next year; a whole summer, a whole building season, wasted. Maybe they should just hit up the local universities for student volunteers. It sure worked in 1987.
This is the reason we now have a Department of Government Efficiency.
See Also: This Simple DOGE Action Regarding the IRS Website Login Button Is What I Voted For
For an example of how this kind of thing should be done, look up New York's Wollman Skating Rink and how its badly needed refurbishing was completed with remarkable speed - once a famed New York real-estate mogul convinced then-Mayor Koch to get out of the way and let him get it done.
Meanwhile, the glacial pace of government contracting goes on as usual. Your tax dollars at work!
DOGE is finding billions of dollars in wasteful spending, and the Democrats are losing their minds as they realize their gravy train and woke projects are coming to an end.
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