Legislation passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday could, if adopted by the House, send billions of dollars to the National Park Service to address maintenance needs, such as the leaky Transcanyon Pipeline at Grand Canyon National Park/NPS file

Senate passage Wednesday of the Great American Outdoors Act would, if the House concurs, send $6.5 billion to the National Park Service to address a bit more than half of the maintenance backlog that touches most, if not all, of the 419 units of the National Park System. How that money, if provided, would be divvied up among the parks remains to be seen.

The money, proposed to be released over five years, would provide a much-needed boost for the Park Service's efforts to get on top of backlogged maintenance that for decades has eaten away at historic structures, needed water and sewer systems, roadways, and even trails.

A months long series of stories in 2018 by Traveler found trails long closed to hikers, leak-prone water pipelines critical to human safety, bridges in dire need of repairs if not replacement, weary sewer systems that can't handle demands, historic structures at risk of serious deterioration, and lodges unfit for habitation.

“Chronic underfunding, cuts in staffing, record visitation, and billions of dollars in repairs have burdened our national parks for years," Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, said Wednesday upon Senate passage of the legislation. "Park roads and bridges are collapsing, water systems are failing, and visitor centers are crumbling. This momentous bill not only provides an opportunity to better care for these treasured places, it will help to increase access to public lands across the country, provide jobs and bring much-needed relief to local communities suffering through hard times."

Of the roughly $12 billion backlog, about $6.15 billion is tied to roads, bridges, parking lots, and tunnels. The remaining $5.77 billion can be linked to buildings, housing, campgrounds, trails, waste water systems, water systems, unpaved roads, unpaved parking areas, utility systems, dams, constructed waterways, marinas, aviation systems, railroads, ships, monuments, fortifications, towers, interpretive media, and amphitheaters.

The numbers are moving targets, though. While $671 million in maintenance and repair work was accomplished in the park system during Fiscal 2018, it was offset by a $313 million growth in the backlog, according to Park Service numbers.

Individual park needs range from the $50,588 in backlogged maintenance reported by Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve in Alaska for Fiscal 2018, to the more than $650 million cited by National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C.

If the House approves the legislation as expected, money -- provided via revenues from on-shore and off-shore energy development -- could begin flowing to the Park Service as early as next year. While it remains to be seen exactly how the funds would be distributed, the Park Service already has a process for prioritizing maintenance needs to be addressed through the agency's construction budget.

"The bill defers to the discretion of the Park Service to build on the methodology they long have been using," said John Garder, NPCA's senior director for budget and appropriations. That methodology, he continued, looks at how much use facilities get from visitors and park staff, the relevance of infrastructure to the mission of the park, historic values, and public health concerns.

The Park Service's FY21 budget request reflects that prioritization. For the fiscal year, the top five park projects judged by the agency were:

• Pearl Harbor National Memorial, replace the failing shoreside dock at the visitor center
• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, repair Canal Inlet Lock 1 and Lift Locks 1,2 and 5
• Glacier National Park, replace utilities along Lake McDonald
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park, rehabilitate the Sugarlands water and wastewater systems
• National Mall and Memorial Parks, rehabilitate elevator and install walkways at Thomas Jefferson Memorial

With the Senate (on a 73-25 vote) having quickly acted on the legislation, which also calls for full, permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund that helps pay for state and local park projects as well as other state and federal conservation and recreation projects, the House is expected to do the same.

Garder pointed out that a diverse set of stakeholders, from outdoor industry groups to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are anxious to see the legislation clear Congress and be signed into law by President Trump.

The National Governors Associaton called for quick passage, saying the measure would help the nation rebound from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

"As Congress considers ways to further economic recovery and protect public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, support for outdoor recreation and public lands is crucial," the NGA said in a release. "The outdoor recreation economy employs millions of Americans in communities across the nation, and public outdoor spaces provide a safe venue for Americans to exercise and recreate."

At the American Battlefield Trust, President Jim Lighthizer pointed out the benefits of the LWCF and the park funding.

“This vital, long-awaited legislation combines two priorities related to battlefield preservation. First, it fully and permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which in turn funds the Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant Program, a matching grant program that has successfully saved more than 32,000 acres of America’s hallowed Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlefields," he said. "Second, it tackles the critical maintenance backlog within our National Park System, including millions of dollars’ worth of projects at dozens of battlefield parks — famous sites like Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Yorktown — which will enhance these outdoor classrooms and ensure they are accessible to the public for generations to come.

Shawn Regan, vice president of research at the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, called the legislation "long overdue."

"This is great news for those of us who have been calling on Congress to fund the basic upkeep of national parks and other public lands. For too long, conservation funding has focused primarily on land acquisition while neglecting maintenance," he said. "The legacy restoration fund created by this act would establish an endowment-like maintenance fund that is insulated from the annual appropriations process, empowering the NPS and other agencies to directly address high-priority maintenance needs. The creation of such a fund is long overdue."

How the legislation, if it gains final approval and is signed into law, affects congressional funding of the National Park Service going forward remains to be seen. Maintenance funding long has been contained in the agency's construction budget, and so some might seek to reduce funding there.

Garder, however, noted that the Senate legislation specifically states that the $6.5 billion should not supplant other maintenance funding provided the Park Service.

"It’s well-known that this bill addresses only $6.5 billion of the $12 billion backlog, so it’s huge progress but there’s much more to be done," he said.

The Park Service needs diverse and robust funding to tackle the maintenance backlog, and then to stay on top of it, "or the problems will just come back," said Garder.