National Parks Get $750M

Dinosaur National Monument

The National Park Service received a $750 million shot in the arm yesterday to fund hundreds of projects and create jobs across the country. It may seem like a drop in the stimulus bucket, but the allocation is part of a larger $3 billion that the Interior Department is investing in the economy as part of the recovery.

The funds will be spread across the U.S., from Yellowstone where more than $9 million is slated to overhaul an old waste water treatment facility, to $5.5 million for work on the Independence Hall Tower at Independence National Historical Park in Pennsylvania.

“From the Civil War to the Great Depression, America’s best ideas for protecting our national parks and open spaces have often come when our nation has faced its greatest challenges,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

Not only do the projects span various states, they also reflect the variety of holdings in the park system. More than $30 million is slated to repair the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington D.C., but there is also nearly $55 million to prepare for the removal of the Elwha Dam and Elwha River Basin restoration at Olympic National Park in Washington State.

Like other stimulus projects, the more than 750 chosen projects are shovel-ready and have been long-standing priorities within the National Park System.

To find out what is happening in your state, from new trails to restoration of historic monuments, check out the full list here.