At a difficult time, much-needed good news for America’s parks

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Senate gave us some good news. Recognizing the need to fix and fund our parks and open spaces, the Senate passed The Great American Outdoors Act, which will benefit Alaska and its economy as well as national parks and public lands across the country.

The Great American Outdoors Act would provide funding to repair aging infrastructure in America’s more than 400 national park sites, dedicating up to $6.5 billion to infrastructure repairs over five years. This legislation would address the highest priority repair needs at parks across the country and would generate tens of thousands of infrastructure-related jobs. Additionally, the bill would provide $900 million per year to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to protect land in our national parks and other public lands and to support recreational facilities.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan helped ensure this bill successfully passed the Senate. Rep. Don Young has also supported the concept of funding to reduce the national parks’ repair backlog.

For far too long, the National Park Service has operated on a shoestring budget, while also dealing in recent years with decreases in staffing on top of record-setting visitation. At the same time, the Park System’s maintenance backlog has steadily increased to an all-time high of nearly $12 billion in needed repairs to crumbling roads, trails, restrooms, visitor centers and other infrastructure.

In Alaska alone, national parks are facing more than $100 million in needed repairs, from Glacier Bay to Wrangell-St. Elias to Bering Land Bridge National Preserve to Denali. Sadly, critical repairs in parks across the country have been put on the back burner for decades, and now our parks are reaching a breaking point. While rangers and other park staff do their best to duct-tape park infrastructure together, its ultimately up to Congress to finish the job by making funding our parks and open spaces a priority.

In addition to funding needed infrastructure repairs, the Great American Outdoors Act would fund the Land Water Conservation Fund, (LWCF) which funds recreational projects and land purchases from willing sellers to help Alaskans access and protect the irreplaceable natural and cultural resources our national parks and other public lands represent.

According to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, LWCF funds have been spent on, among other things, a skate park in Sitka, ball fields in Utqiagvik, a rifle range in Kodiak, community garden in Bethel, a tot lot in Kotzebue, the ski area in Cordova, and a swim beach in Fairbanks. LWCF grants have also assisted state-sponsored sites such as Chugach State Park, Clam Gulch State Recreation Area (SRA), Nancy Lake SRA and Chena River SRA, and supported the purchase of inholdings from willing landowners in many of our national parks.

In short, LWCF supports public access and enhanced public lands, contributing to our state’s multi-billion-dollar recreation economy. The Outdoor Industry Association has found that active outdoor recreation generates $7.3 billion in consumer spending in Alaska, 72,000 jobs which generate $2.3 billion in wages and salaries, and nearly $337 million annually in state and local tax revenue.

This legislation would be a win-win for our public lands, their staff and visitors, and local economies across the country. It would address the highest priority repair needs at units across the Park System and spur the economy. As our country continues to deal with and recover from an ongoing health pandemic, our state’s gateway communities are suffering through hard times. The thousands of shovel-ready projects generated from this bill would provide jobs and bring much-needed relief to local economies.

With the Senate’s passage of the Great American Outdoors Act, the task moves to the House of Representatives. We thank Sen. Murkowski and Sen. Sullivan for their work. We urge Rep. Young to use his position of influence on the House Natural Resources Committee to cosponsor this legislation, push it across the finish line, and protect Alaska’s economy and outdoor legacy.

Jim Adams is the Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association.

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