Conservation group: National parks not in the clear

“Whether it is an unnecessary government shutdown or a damaging set of budget cuts, our national parks and the people who enjoy and depend on them continue to suffer from a failed budget process.”

{mosads}A recent poll by the NPCA and the National Park Hospitality Association found 9 in 10 Americans want and expect the federal government to keep national parks running, protected and funded.

Roughly 77 percent of voters surveyed in the report said it is important to them that the next president ensures parks are fully restored.

In a House hearing Wednesday, National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis testified on the park closures caused by the government shutdown and other budget issues. Currently, the parks have an $11 million backlog of necessary maintenance work, he said.

Pierno urged Congress to do more.

“The parks and the American people need and deserve a genuine, long-term budget solution that keeps our parks completely open and ends the slow-motion shutdown that is occurring under the sequester,” she said.