How Much Has Trump Cut From The National Park Service

GRCA Trail Repair — Repairs to infrastructure improves access and recreational opportunities to national parks.
NPS Photo

News Release Engagement: March 11, 2019

Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov

WASHINGTON – President Donald J. Trump has proposed a $ii.7 billion budget for the National Park Service (NPS) in Fiscal Yr (FY) 2020, which includes funding that would aid address the $eleven.9 billion maintenance backlog in the National Park System.

"This budget reflects President Trump's commitment to protecting and rebuilding our national parks and public lands to ensure they may be enjoyed past time to come generations of Americans," said National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith. "The President'due south request provides funding that volition allow the National Park Service to repair an crumbling infrastructure, protect America's scenic wonders and iconic historic sites, and provide rangers to greet the more 300 million visitors who visit each year."

Infrastructure – The NPS estimates that in FY 2018 at that place was more than than $11.9 billion in backlogged maintenance and repair needs for the more than 5,500 miles of paved roads, 17,000 miles of trails and 24,000 buildings that service national park visitors. In 2018, more than 318 million people visited the 418 national parks across the land. The NPS retired more than $600 million in maintenance and repair work in FY 2018, but crumbling facilities, loftier visitation, and resource constraints accept kept the maintenance backlog between $11 and $12 billion since 2010.

The President's budget provides $246.three million to fund construction projects, equipment replacement, project planning and management, and special projects. This includes $152.vii million for specific line-item construction projects like rehabilitating the Eagle Lake Carriage road at Acadia National Park in Maine, and rehabilitating the Kennecott Leach Plant foundation at Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. It too includes $iv.0 one thousand thousand for demolition and disposal of obsolete facilities, and another $four.0 million to implement safe and environmental mitigation or remediation of abased mines.

For other facility maintenance and improvement needs, the upkeep proposes $134.1 million for cyclic maintenance projects to ensure maintenance is done in a timely manner and does not get "deferred". To address other facility needs such equally deferred maintenance and code compliance, the budget proposes an boosted $132.0 1000000 for repair and rehabilitation projects.

These discretionary fund sources are critical to aid address the deferred maintenance backlog in the NPS. Additionally, the recreation fee program allows the NPS to collect recreation fees at selected parks to improve visitor services and enhance the company experience. In 2018, NPS leveraged $148.7 million in recreation fees to address priority maintenance projects to ameliorate the visitor experience. The NPS estimates that in both FY 2019 and FY 2020, $165.eight million in fee revenues will be available for similar deferred maintenance projects.

Park Operations – The FY 2020 NPS budget requests $2.iv billion for park operations, which includes $5.7 million for NPS's function in the Department of the Interior'south reorganization to help implement unified regions to better service and efficiency. The budget proposes $x.0 million to back up and enhance recreational admission opportunities, including building accessible hunting blinds and angling piers, and establishing a traditional trades apprenticeship program for veterans. The proposed upkeep too includes $4.0 million for Active Forest Direction efforts to mitigate the burn down risk to the public and NPS infrastructure assets.

Country Help – The upkeep proposes a continued shift to utilise of the mandatory funding from oil and gas leases for state conservation grants. These grants provide funding to states to acquire open spaces and natural areas for outdoor recreation and access purposes, and develop outdoor recreation facilities. Permanent funding for these grants in FY 2020 is estimated to be $113 1000000.

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