Some Say Cuts Will Decimate Educational Programming
POSTED: 5:40 pm EST February 22,
2008
UPDATED: 7:13 pm EST February 22,
2008
WASHINGTON -- Supporters of the National Arboretum in northeast Washington are rallying against budget cuts proposed to Congress by the Bush Administration.The National Bonsai Foundation and the Friends of the National Arboretum said $2 million in cuts could decimate the arboretum's education and community outreach programs.
The 66-percent cut in federal funding also could force staff layoffs and reduced hours, they said.The National Arboretum is made up of 446 acres of woodlands and hosts more than half a million visitors each year. Millions more people track its plant life online.The arboretum includes a world-renowned bonsai exhibit and dramatic columns taken from the U.S. Congress in the 1950s.
Arboretum director Tom Elias showed News4's Tom Sherwood a mockup of a Chinese pagoda village he hopes to build on the site with the Chinese government's help, but said it needs $7 million in new financing.Now the arboretum itself faces a loss in federal funding if Congress doesn't act. Supporters of the arboretum are launching a petition campaign.
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