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 repair of the Old Courthouse at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis and restoration of trails and stream banks at Ozark National Scenic Riverway, as a result of the more than $900 million in stimulus funding provided by Congress.
“This reinvestment in our national parks is an important step toward revitalizing national parks for our children and grandchildren, while creating jobs today,” said National Parks Conservation Association Midwest Regional Director Lynn McClure. “These announcements come at a critical time both for the Memorial and the Ozark Riverway, as the Park Service, local communities, and national park supporters nationwide are working together to bring new life to these sites and riverfronts.”
The Department of the Interior’s list of National Park Service infrastructure projects includes the Old Courthouse, which is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis. As reported in today’s edition of USA Today, the site “will get nearly $5 million to replace a leaky roof that has damaged seven rooms. The [courthouse is the] site of the pivotal Dred Scott slavery trial that hastened the Civil War.”
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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