Restore Our Parks Act Stalls

Wyoming Travel Industry Coalition says a bill that would help pay a backlog of maintenance in Wyoming’s National Parks has yet to be considered on the floor. The Restore Our Parks Act would tap fees paid by oil and gas companies operating on public lands to cover just over half of the national 11-billion-dollar backlog. The bill has strong bipartisan support, but lawmakers will have to act soon to pass it as the current Congress has a limited number of business days before it adjourns for the year. Chris Brown with Coalition says national parks play a critical role in the visitor economy which is Wyoming’s second largest industry. Says Brown,  “They’re really the hook that draws folks to Wyoming. Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton, Devils Tower, those are a huge draw, not just domestically, but worldwide.” National park sites in Wyoming received seven million visitors last year, who spent over one billion dollars in local communities and generated 12 thousand jobs. Wyoming’s national parks face over $700 million dollars in deferred maintenance costs with Yellowstone alone requiring nearly $500 million of that.

Jackson Hole Radio
Latest posts by Jackson Hole Radio (see all)