National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis will defend his agency's plan to cut funding for more than 200 park rangers and other full-time staff when the House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee reviews the agency's fiscal 2013 budget proposal tomorrow.

The budget hearing had been originally scheduled for March 6, but was postponed.

NPS requested $2.6 billion for the coming fiscal year, which is $1 million below the 2012 enacted budget. The budget slashes $21.6 million from park base operations, which will result in the staff reductions across the 397 park units.

While the operations cuts "will be applied strategically to minimize the impact on the visitor experience and park resources," according to the Obama administration budget document, park advocates have expressed grave concern about the effect staff reductions could have on the already understaffed national parks.

"When the president is working to recapture our share of the international tourism market, we find it ironic he would propose to cut more than 200 positions from America's top tourist attractions," said John Garder, the budget and appropriations legislative representative for the National Parks Conservation Association.

Indeed, the NPS budget overview acknowledges that, to meet the cuts, parks may have to shorten hours, close campgrounds, hire fewer seasonal rangers to interact with summer visitors and scale back efforts to control invasive plants and animals.

Jarvis is likely to face critical questions from lawmakers about cuts to the construction budget in light of the parks' ballooning $11 billion maintenance backlog, as well as about small increases in funding for land acquisition and climate change adaptation.

However, Garder said the director might find much-needed support from the committee, which has some flexibility to prioritize funding allocations within certain parameters.

"The committee has clearly demonstrated on a bipartisan basis they understand the importance of park operations," Garder said, adding: "I hope the subcommittee will take a good look at the importance of not cutting staff from the National Park Service."

Schedule: The hearing is tomorrow at 1 p.m. in B-308 Rayburn.

Witnesses: NPS Director Jon Jarvis, NPS Comptroller Bruce Sheaffer and NPS Deputy Director Peggy O'Dell.