MEDFORD, Ore. — The National Park Service is facing a deferred maintenance backlog of 11.6 billion dollars, and Crater Lake and Oregon Caves make up 100 million dollars of that.
Leaders of southern Oregon met Friday afternoon to discuss national park funding.
Travel Southern Oregon hosted the roundtable discussion in Medford.
The main topics were increased funding for national parks maintenance and the need for critical infrastructure repairs.
The lack of funding is resulting in crumbling roads, rotting historic buildings, eroding trails and safety hazards like deteriorating water and electrical systems.
1.3 million park visitors spent an estimated 91.6 million dollars in local gateway regions at National Park Service lands in Oregon, but leaders say the unaddressed critical repairs are having a growing impact on the accessibility and safety of Oregon’s national parks.
“This isn’t something that is isolated, it’s a part of our community,” said Crater Lake National Trust Board Member, Bill Thorndike, “and if we don’t pay attention to it, it’s a resource, if lost, that’s lost forever.”
More than 200 members of Congress and 30 senators have cosponsored the “Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act,” which would provide reliable funding to help address the 11.6 billion dollars in deferred maintenance at national parks across the country.
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