Appropriations for national parks pass quietly in Congress

November 5, 10:08 AMNational Parks Recreation ExaminerRandi Minetor

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Slipping in quietly beneath the health care reform hoopla on October 30, a final bipartisan vote in Congress passed the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 2010 (HR 2996). The act provides $32.2 billion for preservation, maintenance and research on the nation’s public lands, and includes about $2.74 billion in operational dollars for the National Park Service—a 17 percent increase over the 2009 budget.  President Barack Obama signed it into law on November 3.

The act allocates $2,261,559,000 to the park service for the 2010 fiscal year, for “expenses necessary for the management, operation, and maintenance of areas and facilities,” breaking out $9.9 million specifically for planning and coordination of restoration projects in the Everglades.  Another $98.6 million will be used for “maintenance, repair or rehabilitation projects for constructed assets, operation of the National Park Service automated facility management software system, and comprehensive facility condition assessments.”

Beyond the maintenance and management dollars, the national parks receive $482,101.000 for programs, including $15 million in matching funds for Park Partnership signature projects, the projects that we knew as the Centennial Challenge (with the match coming from non-federal sources, i.e. donations), $68.4 million for recreational, natural, cultural and heritage programs, $79.5 million for historic preservation, and other projects.

The new law authorizes Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to acquire land and waterways to support transportation and accommodation of visitors to Ellis, Governors and Liberty Islands in New York Harbor, a step toward increased opportunities to visit Governors Island National Monument—a site that keeps a very limited visitation schedule today.

The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minerals Management Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs also benefit from the appropriations listed, and the Department of the Interior receives funds for management expenses and department-wide programs. 

The bill, introduced by House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior chair Norman Dicks (D-Washington), received bipartisan support from Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bob Bennett (R-Utah), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), all of whom are members of the Senate Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations.  All of these senators’ states will see benefits from the bill, which includes considerable funding for Environmental Protection Agency projects as well as parks and refuges.

More stories about National Park Service legislation in 2009:

Stimulus-funded national park projects announced

National parks will see benefit from final stimulus bill  

Biggest threat from guns in national parks: Visitation