Progress On Deferred Maintenance In National Parks Highlighted During Congressional Hearing

During a Wednesday U.S. Senate hearing centered on national parks, administration officials outlined to senators how funding from the Great American Outdoors Act is starting to reduce the backlog of maintenance projects — even as visitation to parks has exploded.

An Interior Department official said that the most-loved parks are the ones that need help the most — 80% of deferred maintenance projects are in about 56 parks out of 420.

Congress provided additional funding for parks maintenance in the Great American Outdoors Act, but even that can’t keep up with the need, senators and witnesses said.

“We’ve made great strides, but more will have to be done to ensure that we keep America’s best idea alive and well for the next generation,” said Maine independent Sen. Angus King, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, in his opening statement.

The Great American Outdoors Act, which passed in 2020, provided $9.5 billion over five years to address deferred maintenance projects in national parks and public lands.

It also permanently guaranteed $900 million per year for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which protects national parks, rivers, lakes, national forests and wildlife refuges from development.

King and the top Republican on the panel, Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, wanted an update from the witnesses on the backlog of park projects.

The witnesses included Shannon Estenoz, the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks at the Department of the Interior, and Chris French, the Deputy Chief of the National Forest System at USDA’s Forest Service.

King added that the hearing was an opportunity to understand the funding scope needed to clear the backlog of projects, but also help agencies properly staff as visitation to national parks has increased greatly amid the pandemic.

“I know that $9.5 billion is a large sum,” he said. “But it represents only a portion of the funding needed to eliminate the more than $25 billion – a current estimate – in deferred maintenance needs plaguing our public lands.”

Read the article from Ohio Capital Journal here.