The nation’s national park system is facing unprecedented use and unprecedented costs. Reporter David Haldane explains…
A record number of visitors are enjoying America’s national parks, including the one in Joshua Tree. That’s both a blessing and a curse, park advocates say: with a $12 billion backlog in needed maintenance and repairs, the parks may have to restrict access soon.
“What needs to be done, really, is that the Trump administration and our new secretary of the interior should step up and offer a budget that reflects and prioritizes funding our park system for the long run, for all of us.”
That’s Kimberly Pope, organizing representative with the Sierra Club’s Our Wild America program. While the President’s initial budget calls for an overall cut in agency funding, she says, it also includes an unspecified increase in parks maintenance.
Park service staffers say much of backlog is due to lower-than-expected revenues from federal transportation bills and the increased cost of construction.
NATIONAL PARKS FACING BACKLOGS ON MAINTENANCE MAY HAVE TO RESTRICT ACCESS
