STONINGTON, Maine (AP) Maine’s independent U.S. senator is joining with a group of colleagues to push for legislation that promises to address a maintenance backlog within the National Park Service.
Sen. Angus King is helping introduce the Restore Our Parks Act along with Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. The senators say their bill would address nearly $12 billion in deferred maintenance in the park system.
King says the maintenance backlog “threatens to prevent future generations from accessing these beautiful public lands.” The legislation would establish a fund called the National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund designed to reduce the backlog by using money the government gets from energy development.
