National Park Service
Midwest Regional Office
U.S. Department of the Interior
601 Riverfront Drive
Omaha, NE 68102
Interior Recovery News Release
Contact: Patty Rooney
Phone: (402) 661-1532
NPS Announces Recovery Act Projects
OMAHA, NE -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 Midwest Region, which includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
“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 the Midwest Region are:
- $5 million to replace the roof of the historic old courthouse at Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in Missouri.
- $1.8 million to eliminate failing septic systems in the Village of Everett and provide a new pump station in Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
- $477,000 to repair flood damage at Buffalo National River.
- $212,000 to replace the boardwalk on Cliff Shelf Trail in Badlands National Park.
- $68,000 to replace the Visitor Center roof at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
“We are pleased to learn that these high-priority projects have received funding under the Recovery Act,” said Acting Regional Director David Given. “This investment will not only stimulate local economies, but will help us provide an improved experience for visitors to our parks.”
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.
