Park Service seeks to move western office out of San Francisco

The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing to move its West Coast regional headquarters out of San Francisco, citing high rent and cost of living. The agency wants to move the 150 or so employees in the Pacific West Region office to a building it already owns in Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash. Officials formally submitted the plan for congressional approval last week. “The NPS considered various factors in developing this proposal including, the more favorable cost of living, the expected long-term taxpayer savings from using an NPS-owned building rather than leasing, and the preservation benefits of adapting a historic building for modern use,” NPS spokesman Andrew Munoz said in a statement. “The NPS estimates the proposal will save more than $2 million a year in rent, could reduce salary and benefits costs by about $1.8 million a year, and eliminate $12 million in deferred maintenance with the restoration of the historic building it will occupy at Fort Vancouver.”...MORE