Haley Stevens: “I think, if the Senator would look at that period, at the end of 1966 the parks were in the best condition they have…”

“I think, if the Senator would look at that period, at the end of 1966 the parks were in the best condition they have been since the turn of the century. Since that time, the vision of the Park Service has been to add acreage to the parks. Today we see the parks in the worst condition they have been in my lifetime. Maintenance of the parks, the accumulated maintenance that has been deferred, is just overwhelming. I think it would take the total annual appropriation of the Park Service to catch up just on deferred maintenance at the historic park sites, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and all of those that are in the south 48. But my question to the Senator is, we have now almost 80 percent of the land that is in the Park Service in my State and we have about 1 percent of the Park Service money. I don't think anyone has looked at what has happened to the parks, in terms of this rush to add acreage to the parks instead of maintaining discrete park areas that are absolutely beautiful and need to be preserved.”