A quarter of the United States Senate is calling on those who hold the purse strings to make inroads on the billions of dollars of maintenance needs spread out across the National Park System.
The senators -- 23 Democrats, one Republican, and one Independent -- sent a letter last week to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Environment, Interior, and Related Agencies, and Sen. Tom Udall, the subcommittee's ranking member, to request "sufficient funding to allow the National Park Service to significantly address the backlog maintenance issue which is seriously impeding the visitor experience in our national parks."
While the National Park Service has estimated its total backlog at nearly $12 billion, the letter (attached below) sent to Sens. Murkowski and Udall focuses on roughly $6 billion of the backlog that is separate from the road maintenance needs across the system.
"In addition to protecting some of our nation's most awe-inspiring land and important historic sites, our National Park System serves as an important economic engine both nationally and in adjacent communities," reads the letter, sent by U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. "It is crucial that national park facilities be kept safe and accessible so they may continue to welcome and educate the millions of Americans and international visitors who pass through their gates each year."
Comments
Interesting. Maria Cantwell but not Patty Murray. That's really weird.
" 23 Democrats, one Republican, and one Independent"
That about tells the entire story, doesn't it?
Then save some money and stop the YNP bison herd culling. That is brutal, and the only case of brucellosis was found to have jumped to another petri dish in a lab. The brucellosis scare is a myth. I suggest that the Senate also stop the wild horse and burro roundups at the BLM and DOI, USFS, etc. and save $43K per head. Just how much, Senators, are you getting kickbacks for per head? They are being shipped to MX for the most unspeakably horrible slaughter you can imagine.