SPRINGDALE, Utah, Sept. 24, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) –Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will visit Zion National Park Monday to draw attention to a maintenance backlog at national parks across the country.
Monday’s event will “showcase the park’s deferred maintenance backlog and call on Congressional action to fix the $12 billion backlog of maintenance within the National Park Service,” according to a news release from the Department of the Interior.
Zinke will be joined by three members of Utah’s Congressional delegation, the news release said. These will be Republican Congressmen Rob Bishop, District 1, Chris Stewart, District 2, and John Curtis, District 3. Bishop also chairs the House National Resources Committee.
Zion National Park currently estimates its backlog at $65 million.
Bishop and ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced the Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act in July to address the need for maintenance at national parks across the U.S., including road and visitor center construction needs.
The House bill would fund the needed construction projects by earmarking revenue made from energy production on public lands, including income from onshore and offshore oil and gas leases.
“Our parks are national treasures,” Bishop said at the time, according to a news release from the House Committee on Natural Resources. “Let’s start treating them that way. This bipartisan bill will put us on the path to improving our parks for future generations.”
Gephardt Daily will have more on Zinke’s visit as information is made available.
