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Within The Fine Print Of The Consolidated Appropriations Act

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By Kurt Repanshek - January 14th, 2023

Running nearly 1,700 pages and $1.7 trillion, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 contained $3.47 billion for the National Park Service for fiscal year 2023, and while the Traveler previously reported on many of the Act's provisions that apply to the Park Service, the following items were also buried in the fine print:

    • $68 million to cover the cost of the federal employee pay raise.
    • An increase of $31.5 million to restore staffing across the park system and $24.6 million to support new parks and critical responsibilities. This includes parks like Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument, Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, and Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, as well as adding tribal liaison expertise in central offices and multiple parks.
    • An increase of $7 million for tribal historic preservation office grants.
    • An increase of $4.5 million for state historic preservation office grants.
    • An increase of $1.25 million for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act grants.
    • An increase of $6.9 million to construct, lease, and rehabilitate housing at parks where housing is either unaffordable or unavailable in the local community.
    • An increase of $6.9 million to improve bandwidth and connectivity at parks across the country .
    • An increase of $1.5 million for quagga and zebra mussel management .
    • An increase of $1.4 million for the National Trails System .
    • An increase of $5.1 million for zero-emission vehicle fleet replacement and charging infrastructure.
    • An increase in $4.1 million for climate change vulnerability analyses and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements.
    • An increase of $2.0 million for Abandoned Mineral Lands Projects .
    • $1.33 billion for high-priority deferred maintenance projects, including rehabilitation of bathhouses at Hot Springs, utility systems at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, water and wastewater systems at Everglades National Park, perimeter fences at Hawaii parks, multiple operational buildings across Idaho parks, and sections of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
    • $105.8 million for the Land Acquisition program, including priority projects at Haleakalā National Park, Timucuan Ecological & Historical Preserve, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Cumberland Island National Seashore, and Saguaro National Park

Memorial authorizations in Washington, D.C.:

            • Thomas Paine Memorial
            • National Service Animals Commemorative Work
            • Jean Monnet Commemorative Work
            • Enslaved Voyages Commemorative Work
            • Women Who Worked on the Home Front WWII Commemorative Work
            • National Liberty Memorial (reauthorization)
            • Fallen Journalists Memorial (Area 1 authorization)

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