Politics is the art of making yourself look good, so maybe that’s why there’s so much finger pointing about how many jobs really have been created by the borrowed money flowing from Congress.
Think about it. It’s like a river of money, or should I say, a river of red ink. A torrent of billions of dollars cascading out of Washington, D.C., feeding a variety of bureaucratic streams with millions of greenbacks, and the millions then flowing into numerous regional creeks, brooks and rivulets that trickle tens of thousands of bucks into local work projects. And, of course, someone says he or she was responsible for the bounty.
For the moment, forget where the billions come from (you know: it’s us). So where does it all go?
Usually I scratch my head in wonder, but one place where I can see how the latest federal largesse is having some kind of a positive impact is at Grand Canyon National Park, funding some of the much-needed repairs and deferred maintenance projects.
Earlier this month I received a press release from the rangers at Grand Canyon, updating OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine on some of those projects.
According to the release, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed earlier this year earmarked $3 billion to the Department of the Interior. Of that amount, the National Park Service received $750 million. Grand Canyon received about $10 million of that sum to pay for 11 park projects.
You get the picture – first a river, then a stream, then a creek.
Now for me, $10 million still is a lot of money. However, while nice to receive, the $10 million is only a drop in the bucket for Grand Canyon National Park’s needs.
“Grand Canyon has a total deferred maintenance of well over $262 million, $24 million of which is attributed to trails and over $9 million of which is attributed to housing,” park superintendent Steve Martin was quoted in the press release.
Huh? How Much?
I digress.
Dollar-wise, that means $495,000 is going to trails projects and $194,000 for the reroofing.
The Uncle Jim Trail is the primary focus of the North Rim forest trails project, which is a five-mile-long trail winding through the forest to a point that overlooks the canyon. Also used by concessionaire mules, the trail starts at the North Kaibab Trail parking lot.
In the release, rangers said the money is being used to buy supplies and equipment, and to hire crews. Workers are rebuilding structures to hold the trail in place, replacing water bars, building hitching posts, and creating a gravel trail near the trailhead to a new composting toilet.
When that’s finished, crews will start on other North Rim trails, specifically the Ken Patrick Trail, Widforss Trail, and the Transept Trail. Completion date is late 2010.
“Work on these two projects would not have been possible without funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” Martin said in the press release. “In addition to reducing the park’s deferred maintenance, these funds also help in creating local jobs, and help support the tourism industry that is so important to the economic vitality of the Grand Canyon region and the state of Arizona.”
I was glad to receive the update from our friends at Grand Canyon National Park, and I’m happy that some repairs are being made, but for me a couple of questions remain.
First, if the park is so important for tourism, and the economic health of the Grand Canyon region and the state of Arizona, why isn’t Congress allocating rangers what they need to make those other repairs? Second, if there’s $262 million in deferred maintenance at Grand Canyon, just how bad is the situation at other parks, especially those in the West?
Maybe Congress and the White House should take a long, hard look at the many pork barrels stacked up in Washington and rethink their funding priorities. And maybe our politicians should take another look at Ken Burns’ excellent documentary on our national parks (as if they need a reason), but then I’m assuming they even bothered to watch it in the first place.
If you’re thinking along the same lines, maybe you should call or write the superintendent at your favorite (or nearest) national park and ask if they are facing deferred maintenance issues. If the answer is yes (I’m guessing it is), drop a note to your senator or congressional representative (or event President Obama) and tell them they need to take care of our national treasures.
Not later. Now. Not after the pork barrels get filled to the brim. Now.
To see a list of the other Grand Canyon projects planned for the ARRA money, go to www.nps.gov/grca/parkmgmt/arra.htm#CP_JUMP_401763 at the park’s Web site.
And if you want to discover places in the West to visit, explore, go camping, hiking or sightseeing, visit OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine at http://www.oldwestnewwest.com/ for some ideas.
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