LA Weekly

Howard Gross, California desert program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association., writes:

The National Park Centennial Act was introduced into Congress today with 22 co-sponsors (11 Rs and 11 Ds). This Act would make the National Park System fiscally sound by the 100th birthday of the National Park Service in 2016. It addresses the myriad funding needs of the parks, repair of campgrounds, trails, and roads, preservation of historic buildings and museum artifacts, and the natural resource management and protection.

The totally bipartisan Centennial Act is meant to address the multi-billion dollar "maintenance backlog' in the National Park System, a lingering problem that has meant park managers over the years have had to wait until buildings and facilities deteriorate completely before replacing them -- obviously not the best business strategy.

If you wonder why national parks need buildings and facilities at all, just think, for instance, about what would happen if those 3.5 million annual visitors to Yosemite, many of them set up in the park's developed campgrounds, could relieve themselves wherever they chose. Not everyone carries a little shovel on every car-camping trip.

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