The National Park System has just received a significant increase in funding for 2010.
Excerpt from the National Parks Conservation Association newsletter:
...President Obama signed a $32.2 billion Interior and Environment Appropriations bill for the 2010 fiscal year. In this bill, the National Park Service (NPS) received $2.7 billion--roughly $218 million above the 2009 funding level!
This bill demonstrates a concerted effort by Congress and the Administration to restore our national treasures in time for the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service.
Here are some of the highlights from the bill:
- NPS Operations received roughly $130 million above last year's funding level, which fulfills the President's pledge to increase park operations $100 million above inflation.
- The NPS portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund--a fund used to purchase critical lands now on the market for conservation and public recreation--received $126.26 million. This is an increase of $61 million over last year's level and $28 million above the President's request.
- Public-Private Partnerships, previously known as the Centennial Challenge, was funded at $15 million.
- Most importantly, and beyond the numbers, the NPS is now better able to hire more rangers, fill out the authorized boundaries of many parks, enhance its ability to address the impacts of climate change on our national parks, and preserve America's Everglades, Great Lakes, and other nationally-significant ecosystems.
Also included were appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service: (1) forest and rangeland research; (2) state and private forestry; (3) the National Forest System (including transfers of funds); (4) land acquisitions, including specified National Forest areas in Utah, Nevada, and California; (5) range rehabilitation, protection, and improvement; (6) gifts, donations, and bequests for forest and rangeland research; (7) federal land management in Alaska; (8) wildland fire management (including transfers of funds); and (9) the FLAME Wildfire Suppression Reserve Fund (including transfers of funds).
Search topic to learn more: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2010
