The National Park Service (NPS) has a lot of infrastructure assets. In fact the only other agency in the entire federal government with more infrastructure is the Department of Defense. While most of these assets are crucial to the employee and visitor experience in these parks, many of them have been crumbling in time, lacking funding for repairs or maintenance. The Great American Outdoors Act provided $6.5 billion to the NPS to fix that, and now the National Parks Conservation Association is looking to ensure that that funding is reauthorized.
It’s easy to assume that the $6.5 billion is going straight to the largest parks or the most popular parks, but maintenance and repair projects have been addressed across the entire country. In fact, since the Great American Outdoors Act passed in 2020, over 400 projects have been addressed.
In Maine, Acadia National Park received $39.8 million for infrastructure projects. $7.8 million is used to replace outdated water & wastewater systems throughout the park, while $32 million is used to replace an unsafe park maintenance & workshop facility, ensuring staff can remain safe and clean throughout their work.
“There’s much more that’s needed, so that’s why reauthorizing the Great American Outdoors Act is so critical for Acadia National Park and national parks all across the country.” – Todd Martin, Northeast Senior Program Manager with the NPCA
