National Park Service
Southeast Regional Office
U.S. Department of the Interior
100 Alabama St. SW, 1924 Building
Atlanta, GA 30303
Interior Recovery News Release
Contact: William Reynolds
Phone: (404) 507-5612
National Park Service Announces Recovery Act Projects
ATLANTA, GA -The National Park Service (NPS) today announced nearly 800 projects totaling $750 million that can be completed across the country with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This major effort includes projects in the agency’s Southeast Region, which includes Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“These projects are an investment in America’s future that will create jobs, stimulate the economies of local communities, and get our country moving again,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “They are also an investment in telling the story of America to future generations through our national parks by conserving our awe-inspiring landscapes, our rich culture, and our great heritage.”
“We will use Recovery Act funding to make a difference in parks,” said Acting Director Dan Wenk. “We will fix trails, invest in energy efficient vehicles, build new visitor facilities, clean up abandoned mine sites, increase our ability to generate power from the sun, and finally complete overdue maintenance on our buildings and roads.”
A full list of National Park Service projects is available at http://www.interior.gov/recovery/nps. A few examples in the Southeast Region are:
- $2.2 million to stabilize Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park.
- $24.3 million to construct, repair or rehabilitate roads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
- $700,000 to install a photovoltaic system on the Visitor Center at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
- $75,000 to install solar-powered security lighting in Gulf Islands National Seashore.
- $200,000 to restore a boardwalk trail at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park which will increase accessibility to Park resources.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for several of our National Parks in the Southeast Region to tackle some of their most critical maintenance needs.” said Southeast Regional Director David Vela. “We look forward to putting these funds to good use as we begin to restore some of America’s most valuable natural and cultural treasures.”
All the projects announced today are long-standing priorities of the National Park Service and meet the criteria put forth in the Recovery Act: namely, that a project addresses the Department’s highest priority mission needs; generates the largest number of jobs in the shortest period of time; and creates lasting value for the American public.
Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Department’s economic recovery projects. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the recovery web site and on http://www.interior.gov/recovery/nps.
