Park Service Considers Selling Bonds

The National Park Service thinks Americans have so much pride for the Grand Canyon, Independence Hall and the like that they’d buy bonds to finance repairs needed at the nation’s top historic, cultural and scenic sites.

“It’s a thought that’s being kicked around,” David Barna, a spokesman for the park system, said Saturday. “You and I would buy something like a $25 national park bond, and it would be offered at a certain interest rate.”

Roger Kennedy, 70, who stepped down this year as director of the cash-strapped National Park Service, came up with the idea. The aim is to raise the $4.5 billion needed to repair highways, roads and buildings within the national park system.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt told U.S. News & World Report the idea is worth pursuing. “We’ll study it and see if short-term interest leads to long-term yields,” he said.