From the Rocky Atlantic Coastline from Acadia to Glacier’s Snowcapped – Valleys, our national parks are America’s crown jewels, admired at home and abroad. However, our parks represent more than natural beauty. They embody our history, our freedoms and our future. It is our responsibility to ensure that they remain a crucial part of these shared values.
All these places, large and small, tell the story of America: where families come together to camp and fish, where veterans reflect on historic battlefields and where local economies thrive on outdoor recreation and tourism. In recent years we have made progress in the direction of maintaining the national parks to make them safer, more modern and better equipped to treat hundreds of millions of visitors every year – all thanks to the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), a federal program that focuses on repairing and repairing our parks. But the LRF will end on September 30, 2025, and there is much more work to do to honor the heritage and the history representing the parks, especially for the 250 -year anniversary of America. That is why we introduced the America The Beautiful Act to re -authorize the LRF. It continues the Vision Congress that grew up with the Great American Outdoors Act and builds on the strong dual consensus that the preservation of our parks and public countries is a duty that we all share – and a natural investment.
For decades, Park -needs were under -financed. That began to change in 2020, when the congress passed with a wide dual majority and President Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act, the largest investment in our parks in more than 50 years. The results speak for themselves.
Congress considers a permanent increase in national park costs for international visitors
In just five years, more than $ 6.5 billion has been invested in nearly 400 national projects – making a better visitor experience in the parks. And the LRF is not just about conservation and repairs; It is about economic strength. It has generated more than $ 8 billion in GDP, supported more than 72,000 jobs and pumped billions of dollars into local economies.
However, if the congress will not authorize this critical and successful program, projects will retain, the repair costs will rise and communities that depend on park tourism will suffer.
Last year alone, 331 million visitors to the National Park contributed more than $ 55 billion to expenditure to nearby communities, cities and companies. These are not abstract numbers; They represent salary for guides, waiters, hotel staff, engineers and owners of small companies – the means of resources of our neighbors, the lifeline of American communities.
In Montana and Maine we have seen first hand how critical these investments are. In Montana, Glacier National Park supports thousands of jobs and supports small cities in the Flathead Valley. In Maine, the breathtaking coastline of Acadia brings visitors who fill local shops and restaurants, while investments in safe paths and restored facilities withheld them. These experiences depend on infrastructure that we cannot allow to crumble.
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The support for this commonse effort is wide and grows. We hear about voters, local chosen officials, managers and industrial associations. More than 50 national organizations, from economic groups to proponents of nature conservation and heritage, have already approved it. They recognize what we see: the LRF is not only good policy, it is a good stewardship of the resources and freedoms that define the past, present and future of America.
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The re -authorize the LRF is about more than roads and buildings. The point is to protect the places where Americans come together, strengthen the communities that are dependent on them and ensure that future generations inherit the same opportunities to experience the best in America.
While we are approaching America’s 250th birthday, the congress has the chance to confirm a dual promise by taking the America the beautiful act: to protect the countries, history and liberties that unite us as a nation. Let us not let this opportunity pass.
Independent Angus King represents Maine in the Senate of the United States. He is a former Governor of Maine.
