National Parks Receive Over $750 Million in Stimulus Package!

Mount Rainier, receiving $3.3 million, and Joshua Tree, receiving $5.3 million, are just two of the parks which will be receiving funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This extra money will provide the essential tools to maintain and upgrade these beautiful lands.

[photo found at greatoutdoors.com]

Specific projects for Mount Rainier:

• Improve public access to Carbon River that was damaged in the floods.
  
• Replace exhibits at Sunrise Visitor Center and improve view access for disabled people.
  
• Specific work includes major reroutes on the Glacier Basin and Carbon RiverWonderland Trail; a reroute on the Kautz Creek Trail; installation of guard rail on the Silver Falls Trail at Ohanapecosh; Stevens Canyon Wonderland Trail repairs; and repairs to bridges at Deer Creek, Stevens Creek, Martha Falls, Paradise River, Devils Dream, and the Ohanapecosh River.
  
• Stabilize riverbank and repair damaged pavement on Longmire back road.
  
• Replace electric power lines at Narada Falls overlook
  
• Build accessible trailhead at new Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center
• Fix structural problems in historic buildings
• Install grid-tied solar systems on park buildings. To read more, click here.

Specific Projects for Joshua Tree:

• Many paved roads and parking areas will receive chip seal and slurry treatments designed to prolong their planned life.
• Park campsites will receive new fire pits and grills.
• Broken picnic tables and benches will be replaced, and some campsite surfaces will be hardened to allow for improved accessibility.
• Water storage tanks at Cottonwood and Black Rock will be cleaned and painted to resist corrosion and help meet state water quality standards.
• About half of the 1.5-mile Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail will be renovated to repair damaged sections of the trail.
• Numerous other park trails will see brush cleared, waterbars built, retaining walls and erosion-control features constructed, and disturbed areas replanted with native desert vegetation.
• In addition, numerous abandoned mines in the park will have wildlife-friendly exclosures built to improve visitor safety while enhancing the value of the sites for bats and other wildlife.

“The Recovery Act gives us a chance to move forward on a number of significant projects that will improve park facilities and visitor safety at Joshua Tree,” according to Superintendent Curt Sauer. “The funds will also create private- and public-sector jobs in an area of the state that has been among the hardest hit by the economic downturn.” To read more, click here.

--Daniel Hartwick, AAI Intern