Sen. Portman Examines $45M Maintenance Backlog at Ohio National Park

Sponsor of bipartisan bill seeks funding for repairs at Cuyahoga Valley, parks nationwide

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Sen. Portman Examines $45M Maintenance Backlog at Ohio National Park
Eric Semple (left), Cuyahoga Valley’s maintenance chief, Sen. Portman, and park Superintendent Craig Kenkel discuss the $176,000 in maintenance needed at the park’s Brecksville Station.
The Pew Charitable Trusts

Ohio Senator Rob Portman (R), an avid hiker, biker, and champion of national parks, burnished his love of America’s public lands during a July visit to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 50 square miles of rolling forest, waterfalls, and trails nestled between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. He came to get a closer look at the $45 million in needed repairs at the popular National Park Service (NPS) site, which encompasses part of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The popular park attracted 2.2 million visitors last year.

Semple shows Sen. Portman (foreground) a section of track in need of repair along the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. NPS owns and maintains the tracks and needs $4.7 million to fix the railroad system.
The Pew Charitable Trusts

Cuyahoga Valley is one of eight national parks in Ohio that together require more than $100 million in repairs and upkeep—just a fraction of the estimated $11.6 billion maintenance backlog plaguing the National Park System as a whole.

To help fix our parks, Congress must approve dedicated funding, and Sen. Portman is among lawmakers taking the lead on that: He sponsored bipartisan legislation, the Restore Our Parks Act (S. 3172), introduced in June, that would provide up to $6.5 billion over five years to address the most critical needs in national park sites across the country. A companion bill was introduced in the House, the Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act (H.R. 6510).  Both measures have a growing number of bipartisan cosponsors and support from the Trump administration.

Sen. Rob Portman and his wife, Jane (left), Semple, Kenkel, and Deb Yandala, CEO of Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, visit a successful bridge replacement project along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The towpath, a central feature of the park, needs over $4 million in repairs.
The Pew Charitable Trusts

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