National Park Service
Alaska Regional Office
U.S. Department of the Interior
240 W. 5th Ave.
Anchorage, AK 99501

Interior Recovery News Release
Contact: John Quinley
Phone: (907) 644-3512

NPS Announces Recovery Act Projects

ANCHORAGE, AK -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 Alaska Region.

“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 www.interior.gov/recovery/nps. A few examples in Alaska are:

• $6.3 million to replace waste water treatment facility and rehabilitate collection system at Denali National Park and Preserve.
• $418,000 to prevent further corrosion of submerged structures at Bartlett Cove Marine Facilities in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.
• $340,000 to rehabilitate and develop Twin Lakes Campground at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
• $179,000 to improve safety and habitat conditions at an abandoned mine site in Kenai Fjords National Park.
• $119,000 to install a wind turbine and battery system at Anaktuvuk Pass Ranger Station in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.
• $22,000 to rehabilitate park trails with Alaska Native Youth Partnership in Sitka National Historical Park.

“We’ll be getting these projects on the street quickly, and work will begin this summer. These have been high priorities for Alaska parks, and we are thrilled to be able to be moving on them,” said NPS Alaska Regional Director Sue Masica.

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 www.interior.gov/recovery/nps.