Back
To News/PR Index
|
President’s
Budget Requests $3 Billion for National Park Service
|
Innovative
Centennial Initiative Proposes Robust Investment to
Revitalize
National Parks and Public Lands for the Next Century
|
Washington,
DC – February 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / President Obama’s budget request
for fiscal year 2016 – the centennial year of the
National
Park Service – includes $3 billion for the bureau’s critical conservation,
preservation, and recreation mission. The budget boosts the National Park
Service’s essential programs and operational needs by $432.9 million.
“In
2016, the National Park Service will celebrate its Centennial by inviting
hundreds of millions of Americans to find their park by visiting a park
and sharing their favorite park story,” said National Park Service Director
Jonathan B. Jarvis. “This budget will prepare the National Park Service
to ensure that every one of those visitors has a wonderful and safe experience.”
Jarvis
said, “This is an investment in America’ Best idea” that pays dividends
in gateway communities across the nation. For every dollar appropriated
to the National Park Service in the President’s 2016 Centennial budget,
$10 is returned to the American economy in the form of visitor spending,
travel and tourism and construction jobs.
“The
President’s request contains all the elements necessary for those of us
who tend to America’s Best Idea to repair an ageing infrastructure, respond
to climate change, host school field trips, and provide rangers to greet
nearly 300 million visitors with the highest standard of public service,”
Jarvis said.
The
budget proposal would provide targeted increases for the National
Park Service Centennial Initiative, a multi-year effort to support
the preservation of America’s natural, cultural and historic treasures,
invest wisely in the National Park System’s most important assets, expand
the use of parks for informal learning and recreation, engage 600,000 volunteers,
and enhance the National Park Service’s ability to leverage partnerships
to accomplish its mission. It also proposes funds to celebrate civil rights
in America through targeted investments to highlight the struggle undertaken
by Americans to secure civil rights and liberties – actions that inspired
many groups in America and around the world to continue their pursuit for
civil rights equality.
The
Centennial Initiative includes discretionary increases of $326.3 million,
including $8 million to restore seasonal capacity – putting hundreds more
rangers on the ground to support interpretation, law enforcement, and facility
operations. It also proposes $20 million to increase youth engagement in
our parks; $13.5 million to support new parks and critical responsibilities;
and $2 million to provide volunteer coordinators.
Of
the $326.3 million increase requested for the Centennial Initiative, $242.8
million is requested across the operations and construction accounts to
restore and maintain all 6,735 highest priority non-transportation assets
in good condition over 10 years, in combination with a mandatory proposal
to provide $300 million annually over three years for deferred maintenance
projects.
Finally,
the Centennial Initiative includes a discretionary increase of $40 million
to provide the federal match for NPS Centennial Challenge projects and
programs at national parks, to catalyze creative initiatives to improve
visitor services, support outreach to new audiences, and leverage partnerships
to reinvigorate the parks while forging connections with communities. This
will build on the 2015 appropriation of $10 million for matching projects.
This is also complemented by a mandatory proposal to provide $100 million
annually over three years for the Centennial Challenge to complete signature
projects and programs with partners.
The
budget proposes increases of $50 million for the Civil Rights initiative,
including $10 million for necessary resources to improve high priority
facility projects at NPS sites associated with the Civil Rights movement;
$6 million to fund projects to document, interpret, and preserve civil
rights history in the national park system; and $1.5 million to address
critical base operating needs at park sites that maintain and interpret
aspects of the Civil Rights movement.
Also
included in the Civil Rights initiative is $30 million for competitive
historic preservation grants to preserve the stories and sites associated
with the Civil Rights movement, and $2.5 million for grants-in-aid specifically
to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to document, interpret
and preserve the stories and sites associated with the progression of civil
rights in America.
Other
increases in the President’s Budget for the National Park Service:
$4.7
million to support the Cultural Resource Challenge, including $700,000
to digitize the National Register, $1 million to provide grants-in-aid
to tribal historic preservation offices, and $3 million to complete baseline
documentation at parks to ensure informed management decisions.
$16
million for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, including $3.5 million
for climate change adaptation projects, $1.3 million for oceans and coastal
resource stewardship, $1.2 million for coordinated science-based response
to energy development, and $10 million for climate change resiliency projects
to be matched on a 50:50 basis with non-federal partners under the Challenge
Cost Share authority.
$18.3
million in discretionary increases from the Land and Water Conservation
Fund to support federal land acquisition projects, including recreational
access, and both traditional and competitive state conservation grants.
This is complemented by a legislative proposal to provide mandatory funding
from the LWCF. In 2016, if enacted by Congress, this would provide an additional
$106.7 million for federal land acquisition, $47 million for state grants,
and $25 million for the Urban Parks and Recreation Fund which assists economically
distressed urban communities with the revitalization and improvement of
recreation opportunities.
As
the keeper of 405 national parks, 23 national scenic and national historic
trails, and 60 wild and scenic rivers, the National Park Service is charged
with preserving these lands and historic features for their cultural and
historic significance, scenic and environmental worth, and educational
and recreational opportunities. Additionally, National Park Service grant
and technical assistance programs help revitalize communities and expand
local recreation opportunities across the country.
About
the National Park Service
More
than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 405 national
parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local
history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at
www.nps.gov,
on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice,
Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice,
and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
Media
Contact:
National
Park Service
Tom
Farrell
605-745-1130 |