Pew’s work to restore America’s parks seeks to raise awareness about the $11.9 billion repair backlog facing the National Park Service (NPS) and implement long-term solutions to address the challenge.
The initiative collaborates with national partner groups, as well as state and local organizations, to effect change with Congress, the administration, and the NPS. Pew believes policymakers should:
Ensure that infrastructure initiatives include provisions to address park maintenance.
Provide dedicated annual federal funding for national park repairs.
Enact innovative policy reforms to ensure that deferred maintenance does not escalate.
Provide more highway funding for NPS maintenance needs.
Create more opportunities for public-private collaboration and donations to help restore park infrastructure.
The National Park Service (NPS) is over 100 years old, and the infrastructure and facilities at the more than 400 sites it manages nationwide are aging. Add wear and tear from visitors and inconsistent annual funding, and the Park Service can’t keep pace with needed repairs. NPS’s maintenance backlog has grown to an estimated $12 billion, and nearly half of that is for highest-priority assets.
With record crowds contributing to wear and tear and federal funding unreliable, the National Park Service is struggling to keep pace with repairs, estimated at $11.6 billion in fiscal year 2017. Use this tool, based on NPS data, to learn more about deferred maintenance at NPS sites across the county, in your state, and at your favorite park.
Addressing the National Park Service’s (NPS’) nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog would create or support more than 100,000 infrastructure-related jobs, a Pew-commissioned analysis by the Cadmus Group found. This number, based on fiscal year 2018 NPS data, is a reminder of the powerful contribution that national parks make to the U.S. economy.
Summer brings a big jump in visitors to national parks, along with a reminder of how many repairs are waiting to be addressed at these sites to ensure safe access for current visitors and protection of American history for future generations.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives worked across the aisle to craft the Great American Outdoors Act, which recently passed both bodies with overwhelming support.
The National Park Service needs almost $12 billion to eliminate its backlog of deferred maintenance. The Pew Charitable Trusts' campaign to restore America's parks has created a series of case studies highlighting examples of repairs needed at our nation's treasures.
