National Parks maintenance backlog reaches $11.9 billion
February 8, 2016
The National Park Service (NPS) this week released its Fiscal Year 2015 deferred maintenance statistics for national parks. The $11.9 billion nationwide total was up from the $11.49 billion reported at the end of FY2014. Congaree National Park also has a backlog of deferred maintenance projects which totals $4,270,068.
Deferred maintenance is necessary work on infrastructure such as roads and bridges, visitor centers, trails, and campgrounds that has been put off for more than a year. Aging facilities, increasing use of park facilities and insufficient maintenance funding contribute to the growing backlog. Our list of deferred maintenance projects is about 50 percent transportation and 50 percent non-transportation assets.
Congressional funding for the National Park Service in 2016 includes an additional $90 million for non-transportation maintenance. Congress also passed a new highway bill which will provide a $28 million increase for transportation projects in parks this year. Funding for transportation-related maintenance and construction will continue to rise, by $8 million per year for five years, until it reaches $300 million per year in 2020.
“The funds Congress provided for 2016 will help us as we move toward the goal of restoring our highest priority park assets to good condition,” says Congaree National Park Superintendent Tracy Stakely, “With Congress still considering a Centennial bill, we look forward to having additional resources to reach the goal of having those high priority assets restored to good condition. As we encourage folks to discover their national parks during our centennial celebration, it is important to have facilities that can accommodate them in order to provide the best possible visitor experience.”
Deferred maintenance figures by type, park, and state are available at http://go.nps.gov/deferredmaint
For more information about Congaree National Park, call 803.647.3970 or visit www.nps.gov/cong. For more information about South Carolina State Parks, visit www.SouthCarolinaParks.com.
Join Congaree National Park on social media: www.facebook.com/CongareeNP, www.twitter.com/CongareeNPS, www.flickr.com/photos/congareenps/ and www.pinterest.com/congareenps.
Celebrate the Centennial of the National Park Service in 2016! The centennial will kick off a second century of stewardship of America’s national parks and engaging communities through recreation, conservation, and historic preservation programs. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/subjects/centennial. Find Your Park at www.findyourpark.com.
