Political Quotes

“I am proud to join Senator Salazar in introducing the National Park Centennial Fund Act. This bill celebrates the 100th anniversary of the National Park System by infusing our parks with $1 billion over 10 years, which will be matched by an additional $1 billion in private donations. This challenge fund adds to efforts to increase the operations budget of the National Park Service by $1 billion over the next decade. We Americans love our National Parks. In fact, in a December 2007 Harris Interactive Poll, the National Park Service ranked as the most popular Federal Government service. In 1872, Congress designated Yellowstone as the world's first national park, and in 1916 the National Park Service formally was created to manage what had become a 6 million acre system of national protected areas. Today the National Park System protects more than 84 million acres. National Parks conserve our culture and our places of natural beauty and value. They also provide recreation opportunities for more than 270 million visitors each year. My State of Maine is home to the first National Park east of the Mississippi River, Acadia National Park, a true gem on Maine's rocky coast.”