Fully fund parks

Thanks to The Spokesman-Review for covering the 100th birthday of the National Park Service (NPS). As a retired NPS ranger, I felt it was my duty to write about a critical issue facing our beloved parks.

We are fortunate in Washington to be home to 15 of the most beautifully diverse and historically significant national park units in the country, as well as 42 national historic and natural landmarks. If you don’t know them all, use #FindYourPark to discover them.

Our parks enhance our way of life and greatly benefit our state’s economy. With more than 7.6 million visitors each year, our national parks generate over $450 million in tourism revenue to Washington state. Unfortunately, it has become apparent that aging facilities, rising visitation and lack of necessary funding to care for these sites have contributed to an unprecedented $12 billion deferred-maintenance backlog. This backlog is affecting our ability to preserve these sites and make them safe and accessible for today’s visitors, as well as for future generations.

Please ask your congressional representative to fully fund the parks so we can preserve our heritage for the next 100 years.

Marty Huseman

Spokane Valley