National Park Week and Earth Day 2017

In last weekend’s Baltimore Sun, a “Readers Respond” letter was offered by Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA):

“Last month, Sens. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican, introduced bipartisan legislation dedicating funding to tackle the backlog [needed repair/maintenance of National Park Service sites/infrastructure] over the next 30 years.

“…we must…take this time to recognize that our national parks are facing $12 billion in needed infrastructure repairs and not enough staff or money for them.”

A 3/28/17 press release from Sen. Warner’s office (linked here) says: “This bill will create the Legacy Restoration Fund to provide the National Park Service with funds for deferred maintenance projects, including $75 million of deferred maintenance in Ohio’s eight national park sites.” Further:

“Eighty percent of the funds in the National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund will be dedicated for the repair and rehabilitation of key assets, including historic structures, visitor facilities, water utility systems, disability access, health and safety, and recreation. Twenty percent of funds will be allocated to roads, bridges, and other transportation-related projects. Amounts from the fund will not be used for land acquisition or used in lieu of funding made available for recurring facility operations and maintenance needs of the Park Service. The bill will also encourage public-private partnerships to help reduce overall deferred maintenance costs by allowing the Secretary of the Interior and Director of the Park Service to accept qualified private donations.”

Please–don’t miss this chance to inform your representatives in Congress of your full-throated support for S. 751 bill, the Warner-Portman National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund, and its funding provisions! (I have.) It’s a generation-to-generation thing, right?

Let’s not risk these most special places of recreation and life-long learning throughout our land to…