House Natural Resources Committee chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) introduced the legislation to tackle the nation’s growing backlog of projects in National Parks.
The bill, dubbed the, “Restore our Parks and Public Lands Bill,” is a companion to legislation introduced previously in the Senate. The legislation proposes funding the needed construction projects by earmarking revenue made from energy production on public lands, including income from onshore and offshore oil and gas leases in a manner similar to the Historic Preservation Fund.
Great Falls Tavern, now the C&O Canal visitor center. Photo from the National Park Service.
The House bill would also provide funding to the Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management which the Senate bill did not. The addition of these two agencies is considered an attempt to build a broader coalition for the legislation. Eighty percent of the funding would still be directed to the National Parks.
The Pew Charitable Trusts work on the backlog issue has uncovered the depth of the challenge and the quiet crisis unfolding throughout the system. The nearly $12 billion backlog includes $5.1 billion worth of historic preservation projects. In 2015, in Maryland alone, there were over $364 million worth of backlog projects which required funding.
Chairman Bishop expressed his confidence in passage of the bill as standalone legislation and that he intends on working with Senate leadership to coordinate the companion bill.
Learn more about the National Park Backlog