Chicago, Ill. – The nation’s leading voice for the national parks, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) today praised the Department of the Interior announcement of the specific job-creating projects that will be completed in national parks, including several sustainable projects at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, as a result of the more than $900 million in stimulus funding provided by Congress.
“This reinvestment in our national parks, and the support of renewable energy projects and invasive species removal at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, are important steps toward revitalizing national parks for our children and grandchildren, while creating jobs today,” said National Parks Conservation Association Midwest Regional Director Lynn McClure.
“Stimulus funding for the installation of solar lighting will allow the park to reduce its carbon footprint by taking 32 lights off the grid; another great sustainable project, the green roof, will be accessible to the Dunes Learning Center. The Park Service will also be able to fund removal of invasive species—critical to protecting wildlife and reducing flooding at the park and in the surrounding community.”
In December, the National Parks Conservation Association published Working Assets: Reinvesting in National Parks to Create Jobs and Protect America’s Heritage, a report which called on Congress and the Administration to include national parks in economic recovery legislation and offered examples of ready-to-go, job-creating infrastructure projects in national parks nationwide. The final bill passed by Congress in February included a measured investment of $900 million toward the Park Service’s massive, $9-billion backlog of critical maintenance and preservation projects.
Congress directed approximately $750 million toward national park infrastructure projects through the Department of the Interior; approximately $170 million is provided for national park road repair needs through the Department of Transportation.
An economic study commissioned by NPCA found that every federal dollar invested in national parks generates at least four dollars economic value to the public.
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