Sen. Lamar Alexander plans to partner with other members of Congress to introduce legislation addressing the growing maintenance backlog in the country's national parks.
In a statement earlier this month, Alexander said members of the House and Senate will introduce legislation "in the coming weeks" to "help restore and rebuild national parks" after President Donald Trump included a proposal to address the National Park Service maintenance backlog in his infrastructure plan.
He reiterated that plan during an event in his hometown of Maryville on Friday, saying the legislation will be introduced in the next few weeks.
The National Park Service has a maintenance backlog of $11.3 billion, half of which is for roads, bridges and tunnels, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a backlog of $1.2 billion, according to Trump's infrastructure plan released on Monday, February 12. The president's proposal would establish an Interior Maintenance Fund from mineral and energy development on federal lands and waters to provide new money to the Department of Interior for deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs in national parks and wildlife refuges.
“We agree that we have a responsibility to address the growing maintenance backlog in our national parks – which includes roads, buildings, campgrounds, trails, water systems and more," Alexander said. "This is an issue Congress has been focused on for many years, and working with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, we will introduce bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives and the Senate in the coming weeks to help restore and rebuild our national parks for the next generation of visitors.”
Alexander said he is working on the issue with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-South Dakota), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), as well as Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho).