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Washington, D.C. – 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 Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades National Parks, as a result of the more than $900 million in stimulus funding provided by Congress.

“This important reinvestment in the infrastructure of our national parks is a step that will create jobs in large and small communities nationwide, and help to restore our nation’s heritage for our children and grandchildren,” said National Parks Conservation Association President Tom Kiernan. “There is much more to do to restore our national parks, but this is progress.”

The Department of the Interior’s list of National Park Service infrastructure projects includes repairing storm-damaged trails at Mount Rainier National Park, implementing energy efficient improvements at the Stehekin Landing Facility at North Cascades National Park, and various projects associated with restoring the Elwha River ecosystem and fisheries program at Olympic National Park.

“National Parks like Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades protect America’s most sacred ideas, hopes and places,” said Sean Smith, National Parks Conservation Association regional director and former North Cascades ranger.  “Work on these critical projects will help us improve our national parks and pass along to future generations a system in better shape than what we received.”

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 which will help reduce the Park Service’s massive, $9-billion backlog of critical maintenance and preservation projects, and address other park infrastructure needs.

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.  Besides protecting some of our most spectacular scenery, Washington’s national parks are huge economic engines, pumping roughly $130 million into the state’s economy and supporting thousands of jobs.

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