National Parks Has Billions In Backlog For Maintenance Work
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WASHINGTON (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but the system is also facing a multibillion dollar maintenance backlog.
Long-delayed projects range from replacing water works at the Grand Canyon to making sure the Jefferson Memorial doesn't sink into the Tidal Basin to improving roads at Yosemite National Park. The bill for deferred work is nearly $12 billion nationwide — a $440 million increase over last year. About half the total is for road work. The remainder is for buildings, campgrounds, trails and infrastructure such as water systems and wastewater treatment.
Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said the annual bill for maintaining America's national parks is nearly twice as much as appropriated by Congress, with expenses growing every year. According to the National Parks service website, there are 409 areas under National Parks' jurisdiction. Of those, Texas has 13 national parks, 20 national natural landmarks and 46 national historic landmarks.
One of those parks is currently incurring costs from a fire. Personnel in Big Bend National Park, located in Rio Grande, have been fighting a wildfire in the park for the past several days. As of Feb. 5 the fire is 75 percent contained.
To help with all these costs, President Barack Obama has proposed spending $900 million over three years to reduce the backlog, with another $300 million targeted for restoration projects. Lawmakers also approved $547 million for maintenance in the current budget year, a $118 million increase over last year.
The Park Service also hopes to expand a Centennial Challenge project that enables the agency to leverage private contributions to complete important projects that improve visitor services in the parks, Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said. Congress provided $15 million for projects this year that will be matched by almost $33 million from more than 90 park partners, he said.
However it's not all costs. According to the National Parks website, the Texas parks have resulted in $238,900,000 in economic benefit from national park tourism.
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