Date: 12.21.22
Contact: Emily Thompson
Congress has introduced an omnibus funding bill for fiscal year 2023, which calls for a much-needed increase of more than $210 million to the National Park Service (NPS). The bill also includes $1.5 billion in critically needed supplemental disaster funding for parks across the country still dealing with the fallout from the impacts of this year’s natural disasters.
Mike Murray, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, issued the following statement following the release of the omnibus funding bill:
“We applaud the significant increase in funding for the National Park Service (NPS). This funding will help our parks hire much-needed additional staff to protect our irreplaceable resources and better serve visitors at parks across the country. In addition, it will help to expand housing for NPS staff, a critical need across the National Park System.
We are pleased by several components of this legislative package. It provides funding for parks such as Yellowstone and Death Valley that are still trying to recover from the terrible natural disasters we experienced this year. In addition, there is funding to help address deferred maintenance projects, language that continues to protect Chaco Canyon from energy development, and a reauthorization of the National Park Foundation’s appropriation.
We appreciate the hard work of our Congressional appropriators and park champions and will continue to work with our representatives to ensure our parks, programs, and public lands have the funding they need to protect resources and serve the public.”
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The Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks represents over 2,300 current, former, and retired employees and volunteers of the National Park Service, with over 45,000 collective years of stewardship of America’s most precious natural and cultural resources. Recognized as the Voices of Experience, the Coalition educates, speaks, and acts for the preservation and protection of the National Park System, and mission-related programs of the National Park Service.