WASHINGTON - The National Park Service will increasingly look to outside sources in an effort to help maintain parks, the agency's new director said.

"We're much more business savvy than we used to be," Mary Bomar, a career employee who became director in October, said in one of her first interviews as head of the agency.

A federal Government Accountability Office report last year said the park service is increasingly cutting back on visitor services, education programs and protections for natural and cultural resources because funding has failed to keep pace with rising operating costs. And the agency's budget has remained tight in recent years as federal dollars have been scarce.

The agency also has a yearslong maintenance backlog that has been estimated to cost billions of dollars.

Bomar said the park service admits it has challenges, including the rising operating budgets, shrinking staff, aging facilities and a diminished visitor experience due to these problems. Parks have also lost some of their relevancy and connections to younger generations, she said.

Bomar said philanthropy will be a big part of a plan to revitalize and restore parks for the agency's 100th anniversary in 2016, announced this year as an effort called the "centennial challenge."

The agency wants to "look at projects where we could match and leverage funding," she said. "Why not?"

The agency is currently bringing in around 12 percent of its budget from outside sources, while a decade ago almost 100 percent of the budget was federally appropriated. Officers have been holding meetings with private interests, increasing awareness about the agency's fundraising efforts.

Much of the private support for national parks is contributed through the National Park Foundation, chartered by Congress in 1967. In past years, companies such as American Airlines Inc., Discovery Communications Inc., Eastman Kodak Co., Ford Motor Co., and Time magazine have each donated millions to parks.

Some critics have been concerned that increased private dollars could cross a line. In 2004, the agency proposed letting some employees solicit donations, accepting alcohol and tobacco company donations for the first time and giving donors the right to put their names on rooms, benches and bricks.

Those proposals were scuttled last year after criticism, and Bomar said she has no plans to revisit the issue.

As part of the centennial challenge, the parks plan several "signature projects," including a new visitor center at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and restoration of Ellis Island in New York Harbor.

The Park Service has acknowledged that the aging Ellis Island complex has been neglected over the years, and the agency hopes to use some private dollars in an effort to restore the historic immigrant gateway.

Bomar said she has no plans to re-open the Statue of Liberty's crown, however, which has been closed to visitors since the Sept. 11 attacks.

She was less forthcoming about other park policies, saying it would be "inappropriate to discuss" the issue of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park.

A temporary plan caps the number of snowmobiles entering Yellowstone at 720 a day, and allows 140 snowmobiles a day to enter Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Parkway, which connects the two parks.

Critics say the vehicles contribute to noise and air pollution in the parks.

Late last year, the agency issued a draft statement to states and other government agencies proposing to maintain the current plan. A final decision is expected by next winter.

"There is no decision made" on the snowmobile issue, Bomar said.