America’s
National Park System is at a crossroads. The ongoing Congressional squabble
over the pending budget sequestration threatens to cut hundreds of millions
from an already strapped National Park Service. The budget knife, like the
sword of Damocles, has hung over and on occasion fallen on the park service,
making it extremely difficult for the agency to preserve and protect our
national heritage.
When
I set out to write the novel Unleashing
Colter’s Hell, a political thriller set in
Yellowstone National Park, I wanted it to be a fun, roller-coaster story about a
terrorist attack on the park. The story’s hero is a single park ranger named
Grayson Cole.
Prior
to writing my novel, I had read countless James Bond thrillers. No matter what the
situation, Bond always defeated the bad guy. He enjoyed the backing of MI5 and
an endless array of tools and gadgets to do his job. Whenever Bond got in a
tough spot he always seemed to have just what was needed to achieve success.
But
having infinite resources or just the right tool is seldom the case in real
life, especially for the National Park Service. Park rangers are tasked with
protecting not only the country’s nearly 400 national park sites, but also the
more than 280 million people who visit the parks each year. No easy task, made
all the more difficult with the park service’s extremely tight budget.
The park service operates on about
$2.5 billion per year. That sounds like a lot of money but its actually only
1/14 of 1 percent of the entire federal budget. Or, put another way, the park
service runs Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Gettysburg, Mount Rushmore and
many, many more parks, on roughly what the Defense Department spends for a
single Virginia Class nuclear submarine.
Yet, America’s small investment in its
national parks produces significant returns for our country. National Parks are
huge economic engines that pump more than $31 billion into state and regional
economies. That spending supports more than a quarter of a billion jobs.
Making matters worse, Congress’ continuing
failure to address budget sequestration could cut another 5 to 8% from the park
service’s budget. In fact, just this
past month Park Service director Jon
Jarvis sent a memo to park mangers calling upon them to prepare for across the
board cuts. Here in the northwest Mount Rainier and Olympic will have to shave
more than $1.2 million from their operations. If these cuts go through, park
managers across the country will be confronted with Solomon like choices. Mass staff
layoffs, reduced visitor center hours, closure of sections or entire parks
could all be on the table.
I wanted my characters, specifically
Grayson Cole, to operate under these real life constraints. How much suspense
could be built if the lead character had infinite resources and tools to fight
his enemies? I believe a more suspenseful, thrilling story is woven around a
ranger who not only fights maniacal bad guys, but does it while stretching the
limits of his available resources. Cole is Yellowstone’s Chief Ranger and with
his contingent of roughly 2 dozen officers, he is responsible for a place that
is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. That’s equivalent to one
ranger for an area the size of San Francisco. He drives beat up government
vehicles over cratered roads, rather than high performance sports cars on the
autobahn. He has limited back up and lives in dilapidated Eisenhower era housing.
My novel is pure fiction. Thankfully,
I am unaware of any terrorist plot to ignite the Yellowstone super volcano and
destroy the park and country. However, the park service’s budget problems are
real and have the potential to damage our park system and the country almost as
much as a super volcano eruption.
Grayson Cole will take on the
terrorists. To find out how he does this pick up a copy of Unleashing
Colter’s Hell. However, Cole can’t save the parks on his own; he needs you
to take on Congress. Contact your elected officials and urge them to hold the
line on further budget cuts. Together we
can pass on a better park system.
August 25, 2013: Lost Cause, the next thriller in the Park Ranger Grayson Cole series is on track for its 2015 publication. Check out the draft cover. Tell us what you think in the comments section.
July 3, 2013: One hundred and fifty years ago today, the Confederate army was turned back at Gettysburg by Union forces. Although not known at the time, this was the high water mark of the rebel cause and began the slow slide to its surrender. 
May 17, 2013: One of the greatest challenges I find in writing compelling stories is engaging all human senses through the mere written word. I make it a habit to describe places and settings with appeals to as many human senses as possible. The wind rustled through the leaves, the sun danced on the water, the water chilled her feet, the air had the burnt taste of electricity in it, are all metaphors used to describe the scene and give the reader a deeper sense of place, intrigue, or drama. 
April 4, 2013: The new cover for Unleashing Colter's Hell is entered into the Author's database cover contest. It's listed in the Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense category. Please vote for it here.
On September 11, 2001, I like everyone else was
horrified by al Qaeda’s attack on America and destruction of the World Trade
towers and the damage to the Pentagon.
We were barraged that day with countless replays of the tower’s collapse
and a smoldering Department of Defense.
Like the towers it appeared the nation teetered on the edge of
ruin. But it survived. Since that time, I like many others have
thought about the possible next attack.
Will this one take down the nation and if so where is America’s Achilles
heal? 
