(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Amid nearly comprehensive national disarray, a glimmer of hope: Last week, the Senate passed a landmark bill establishing permanent funding to preserve America’s public lands and alleviate a huge maintenance backlog at national parks. The measure is popular, bipartisan and right on the merits — a rare trifecta in today’s Washington. Here’s hoping the House will quickly push the bill over the line.
With almost unnerving congeniality for an election year, senators passed the bill by a 73-25 vote. It will devote about $900 million annually to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a reserve that is supposed to go toward acquiring and preserving public lands but which has been repeatedly raided by lawmakers for other purposes. Only twice since the fund was established in Lyndon Johnson’s administration has it been fully funded.
Another $9.5 billion will go toward upkeep at national parks, which has become an increasingly urgent problem. Across more than 400 sites, the National Park Service has been struggling to keep up with the demands of aging utility systems, deteriorating buildings, crumbling roads and bridges, monuments in need of restoration, and much else. Its deferred maintenance backlog stands at roughly $12 billion — and, without action, is in danger of slipping out of control entirely.
All told, the bill, known as the Great American Outdoors Act, amounts to a historic victory for conservationists, who had spent decades lobbying for such a commitment. When Senator Joe Manchin called it “one of the most important things we’ve done in the conservation world in the last 50 years,” he was scarcely exaggerating. By helping to create jobs and boost tourism during what may turn out to be an extended recession, it also makes sense economically. And by properly funding parks that get more than 300 million visitors a year, it’s sure to please the public.
Yes, plenty of political self-interest was involved. Two endangered Republican senators from Western states have made the new funding a centerpiece of their re-election campaigns. That’s fine. If Congress spent more time cooperating to accomplish popular things, and less on tiresome theatrics, it might see its approval rating climb out of the cellar.
Since Yellowstone was established in 1872, national parks have been a treasured American resource. They protect an immense variety of wildlife; preserve lands of stunning beauty and diversity; and have served as a preeminent destination for hikers, naturalists and road-trippers for generations. Protecting them should be a national priority. Congress is finally doing the right thing.
Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board.
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