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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 Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks, and Mojave National Preserve, as a result of the more than $900 million in stimulus funding provided by Congress.

“This important reinvestment in the crumbling 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 repair of campgrounds and the popular 49 Palms Canyon trail at Joshua Tree National Park, and the installation of solar panels to provide power for critical park functions at Death Valley National Park and Mojave National Preserve.

“Our desert national parks are economic engines that we clearly want to keep running smoothly. Investing in our parks means we’re serious about creating jobs, upgrading our parks for the 21st century with rooftop solar, and protecting our desert’s rich natural and cultural heritage,” said Mike Cipra, the National Parks Conservation Association’s California Desert Program Manager.

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.

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