Restore Our Parks Act Introduced

Above, a mineral terrace in Mammoth Hot Springs in
 Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A bill to address the backlog of national park maintenance and projects has been introduced in the U.S. Senate last month.

RV Travel reported:

RESTON, Va. — America is home to incredible lands, many of which are managed by the National Park Service. But the National Park Service faces nearly $12 billion in deferred maintenance at NPS sites. 

On June 28, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Restore Our Parks Act (ROPA), legislation which would address the deferred maintenance backlog. The bill would create the National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund to reduce the backlog by allocating existing revenues the government receives from on- and offshore energy development. The funding would come from 50 percent of all revenues that are not otherwise allocated and deposited into the General Treasury, not to exceed $1.3 billion each year for the next five years. The fund will be used to repair park roads, visitor facilities, water systems, crumbling trails and numerous other park resources. 

The RV Industry Association (RVIA) supports immediate action to address this matter since the RV industry depends on public lands, which host 700 million visits annually.

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