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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Economic Stimulus Plan: Why National Parks Could Help

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Thursday, November 20, 2008   

The National Park System has an idea for stimulating the economy: Put people to work on the maintenance backlog at the nation's parks. Hundreds of millions of dollars of road repair projects are needed.

In California's Redwood National Park, the asphalt has not been replaced since the 1960s. According to Craig Obey, vice president for government affairs with the National Parks Conservation Association, the road projects could produce as many has 7,000 jobs, while at the same time revitalizing the parks for generations to come. He says the country has invested in our national parks during some of America's hardest economic times.

"When you look back in history, parks have played an enormous role in helping us through economic crises. When you go back to the CCC days, the Great Depression, millions of people were put to work in parks."

Roads are not the only park improvements needed. According to Obey, many historic structures are in need of rehabilitation, and park trails could be improved.

"The parks have been suffering from a lack of adequate investment for years. They really are a poster child for the lack of infrastructure investment over time in this country."

Improved access to parks also helps create jobs in surrounding communities, Obey adds. The National Parks Conservation Association recently commissioned a study that found that every federal dollar invested in national parks generates at least $4 in direct economic benefit to state and local economies.

Additional information is available at www.npca.org.




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