Record Number of Repairs to Greet Visitors to National Parks, including in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa – As summer approaches, adventurers are about to descend on America’s national parks, but Congress has yet to act on legislation that would address nearly half of the $12 billion in overdue maintenance.

The “Restore Our Parks Act” was introduced in Congress with bipartisan support. Marcia Argust, project director with Pew Charitable Trusts, said there are more than 400 parks nationwide, and most of them need repairs – including two national park units in Iowa with more than $5 million in deferred maintenance.

“And the needs there, at Effigy Mounds National Monument and Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, are predominately taking care of buildings,” Argust said. “For instance, at Herbert Hoover, the visitor center needs to be addressed.”

The Trump administration’s 2020 budget proposes cutting the National Park Service budget by $481 million, even while visitors in 2018 exceeded 300 million for the fourth consecutive year – the highest numbers since record keeping began in 1904.

If the 116th Congress passes the legislation, which the previous Congress did not, money could be used to address crumbling roads, disappearing trails, deteriorating historic buildings and even outdated water, sewer and electrical systems. Argust believes national parks need to be treated like small cities and towns with infrastructure that needs regular attention.

“It’s important that Congress takes this investment in parks seriously and ensures that our historic resources are preserved, that there’s safe access for visitors and that local communities continue to have that sustainable resource,” she said.

Argust said the nation’s parks are not a partisan issue. A poll commissioned by Pew last November, showed more than 75% of Americans favored legislation to direct up to $6.5 billion over five years to address priority park repairs. Additionally, almost 3,000 national and local organizations have called on Congress to provide more dedicated resources to national parks.