Congress Should Act Now to Fix Our National Parks

More lawmakers visiting sites to highlight overdue repair needs

Article By: Marcia Argust
Projects: Restore America's Parks
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Congress Should Act Now to Fix Our National Parks
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) pays a February visit to the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Hardy, Virginia. Chief Interpreter Timothy Sims pointed out the site’s repair needs, which total $1.4 million.
Courtesy of Senator Mark Warner

Note: This article was updated June 4, 2019, with the addition of legislation co-sponsors.

Historic walls in San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Railroad tracks in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Campgrounds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. What do these parks have in common? They’re among the hundreds of National Park Service (NPS) sites with overdue repair needs that are compromising resources and the visitor experience.

Now, however, momentum is building in Congress for passage of legislation to provide funding for deferred maintenance across the park system, and numerous members of Congress are touring parks in their states to raise awareness of the need to fix these sites. Over half of park assets—from trails, historic buildings, visitor centers, and roads to other infrastructure such as water, sewer, and electrical systems—are in disrepair. The estimated cost of making all overdue repairs is $11.9 billion.

Since Feb. 14, when a bipartisan group of representatives and senators introduced bills (H.R. 1225 and S. 500) to restore our parks, one-third of senators and over one-third of House members from both sides of the aisle have signed on as co-sponsors. The White House  has also expressed support for the legislation.

Lawmakers should co-sponsor and push for passage of measures now pending in the House and Senate to restore some of America’s most significant national park sites.

Since Feb. 14, when a bipartisan group of representatives and senators introduced bills (H.R. 1225 and S. 500) to restore our parks, a third of senators and over half of House members from both sides of the aisle have signed on as co-sponsors. They include Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME); and Representatives Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Derek Kilmer (D-WA). The Trump administration has also expressed support for the legislation.

That enthusiasm reflects the will of the voters: A poll by The Pew Charitable Trusts found that more than 75 percent of Americans back the proposal to provide up to $6.5 billion over five years to address deferred maintenance issues.  

More than 3,000 local elected official, organizations, and businesses, including veterans’ groups, state tourism societies, hotel and restaurant associations, contractors, and recreation industry companies, have endorsed the legislation.

Here are some photos of the bills’ sponsors—those leading the legislative charge to get NPS sites repaired—learning about the maintenance issues in their states.

Olympic National Park spokesperson Penny Wagner, left, and Deputy Superintendent Lee Taylor discuss backlogged park repairs with Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Steve Womack (R-AR) at a visitor center. Womack, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, came to the Washington park in September at Kilmer’s invitation to learn more about the site’s $120 million in needed repairs
Peninsula Daily News
Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), center, and Representative Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) join Cuyahoga Valley National Park Superintendent Craig Kenkel, far left, to learn about deferred maintenance at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, Ohio. Hopewell Superintendent Karen Dorn, second from left, led the November tour of the site, which preserves ceremonial earthworks by native Americans and needs $3.5 million in repairs.
Robert McGraw/Chillicothe Gazette
When Senator Rob Portman visited Cuyahoga Valley National Park in July, Eric Semple, Cuyahoga Valley’s maintenance chief, pointed out issues contributing to the site’s $45 million in deferred maintenance, which included $4.7 million to fix the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. Superintendent Craig Kenkel is following behind. Today, the site needs $51.8 million in repairs.
Courtesy of Senator Rob Portman
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) takes in the view at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park in Tennessee during a March 2018 visit. The park’s overdue maintenance ledger has reached $14 million, with road repairs topping the list.
Courtesy of Senator Lamar Alexander
Senator Angus King (I-ME), left, and Representative Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) tour Maine’s Acadia National Park in September with National Park Service Deputy Director Dan Smith (in sunglasses) and Superintendent Kevin Schneider. The park needs $65.8 million in maintenance, up from $60 million last year, including fixes to this maintenance shed.
Mount Desert Islander
Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) tours the kitchen cabin at Booker T. Washington National Monument during his February visit. The cabin is a replica of where Washington lived as a slave on the plantation. The monument has $1.4 million in deferred maintenance.
Courtesy of Senator Mark Warner
Representative Will Hurd (R-TX), far right, takes a June 2017 tour of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, which needed nearly $9 million in repairs at the time. That figure has since grown to more than $10.6 million. Maintenance issues have included crumbling masonry work, eroding trails, and pothole-filled parking lots.
Dallas Kelley-Kerr NPCA

Marcia Argust directs The Pew Charitable Trusts’ campaign to restore America’s parks.

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park : Deferred Maintenance