National Park Service Modernizes Facility Management Practices

Above, Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When Donald Trump was president, the maintenance backlog for the national parks was estimated to be $11 billion. Congress promised to do something about it. And they did.

The backlog under His Fraudulency Joe Biden is now estimated to be at $21.8 billion. Obviously, nothing's been done.

At least the National Park Service is now trying to get an accurate calculated figure on maintenance repair needs.

According to the Sierra Sun Times:

May 10, 2022 - WASHINGTON - National parks are as popular as ever, with many of them experiencing record-breaking visitation. To better address and prioritize the current estimated $21.8 billion in deferred maintenance and repair needs, the National Park Service implemented a new and improved assessment process that provides a more complete and timely understanding of facility conditions and the cost to repair them.  

The newly implemented condition assessment is more consistent with modern day industry standards, and it streamlines how the NPS evaluates and collects information providing a more complete understanding of deficiencies and repair needs nationwide. 

Deferred maintenance and repairs is an estimate of how much it would cost to repair and restore deteriorating facilities to an acceptable and safe condition. The deferred maintenance and repairs backlog is created when routine maintenance and repairs are delayed because of limited resources. Through 2018, and unlike other bureaus within the Department of the Interior, the NPS only calculated the cost of construction in its deferred maintenance figures and did not include the full scope of construction-related costs like design and construction management except on transportation assets. The updated figure now accounts for this fuller and truer gross cost across all asset types.

To read more, go here.