Rob Bishop: “August 25, 2016, marked the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service; still making it newer than the Antiquities…”

“August 25, 2016, marked the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service; still making it newer than the Antiquities Act, but it was their 100th anniversary. Today, the Park Service has 400 units covering 84 million acres, but they do have some significant problems; namely, a $12 billion backlog in their maintenance issues. We seem to add new parks all the time, and that makes the Park Service fall further behind in this effort. It is fun to create a new national park. It is not sexy to talk about fixing a sewer system. So that requires us to be a little bit more creative than we have been in the past, and to provide new tools so that the Park Service can meet this challenge that they have. This bill before us has been crafted in consultation with the Park Service, the Park Foundation, and other interested parties. It establishes two significant things. One, a new Centennial Challenge Fund at the Treasury to help the Park Service maintain and improve visitor service facilities. This fund will raise money on a one-to-one match between the Federal Government and a private match. Last year in appropriations, $15 million was put into this concept and it was matched by $33 million in private donations, which is a number that I think we will be able to improve on in the future. H.R.…”