Congress must act now to protect US national parks and our heritage

From Acadinia Stone Atlantic Coast to Ice Valples in Snow, Our National parks Are American gems of a wicked, admired in the country and abroad. Our parks represent more than natural beauty, however. They embody our history, our freedoms and our future. It is our responsibility to ensure that they remain a critical part of these common values.

All these places, large and small, tell the story of America: where families are gathered into the camp and fish, where veterans reflect on historical battlefields and where local economies succeed in open recreation and tourism. In recent years, we have made progress towards national parks in order to make them safer, more modern and better equipped to deal with hundreds of millions of visitors every year – all thanks to the legacy (LRF), federal program dedicated to repairs and restoring our parks. But the LRF is set to expire on 30. September 2025. years, and there are many more work to honor her legacy and history, parks represent, especially in front of the American 250. Anniversary. That’s why we presented America a beautiful act to realize LRF. Continues that Congress Vision has progressed with a large act on outdoor and is built in a strong bipartisan consensus to preserve our parks and public countries is the duty that we all share – and a natural investment.

For decades, the park needs changed his mind. It began to change in 2020. years, when Congress passed with a wide bipartisan majority and President Trump, the Law on Practices of the American Act in Open Now, the largest investment in our parks in more than 50 years. The results speak for themselves.

Congress considers a constant increase in the national park fee for international visitors

In just five years, more than $ 6.5 billion has been invested in almost 400 projects across the country for a better experience of visitors in the parks. And LRF does not apply to preservation and repair; It’s about economic power. It achieved over $ 8 billion in GDP, supported over 72,000 jobs and pumped billions of dollars Local economies.

However, if Congress fails to reazzate this critical and successful program, projects will stop, repairs will increase and communities depending on the tourism park will suffer.

Just last year, 331 million visitors to the National Park contributed to over 55 billion in spending to nearby communities, cities and enterprises. These are not abstract numbers; They represent wages for guides, waiters, hotel staff, small businesses and owners of small businesses, the living units of American communities.

Through Montana and Maine, we saw first hand how critical these investments were. In Montana, Glacier National Park supports thousands of jobs and maintains small towns across the FLATHEAD valley. In Maine, the banks of borrowing ace brings visitors who fill local shops and restaurants, while investments in safe paths and restored facilities continue to return. These experiences depend on the infrastructure that we cannot allow them to break up.

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Support for this effort in the deadline is widely and growing. We hear from ingredients, local elected officials, business leaders and associations in the industry. More than 50 national organizations, from economic groups for preservation and heritage of the proponent, has already supported it. They recognize what we see: LRF is not just good policy, it is good resource management and freedoms that define the American past, present and future.

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Retrourization of LRF is more than roads and buildings. It is about keeping the places where Americans are gathered, they strengthen communities that depend on them and ensure that future generations inherit the same opportunities to experience the best Americas.

While we approach American 250. Birthday, Congress has the opportunity to reaffirm a bipartised by promising America beautiful part: to Protect the EarthHistory and freedoms that team up us as a nation. Let’s not let this opportunity go through.

Independent Angus King represents Maine in the United States Senate. He’s a former Maine Governor.