Park Service maintenance backlog hits record high
ASHEVILLE - The National Park Service has a lot of cleaning to do as the agency gets to celebrate its centennial anniversary.
Nearly $12 billion in maintenance work has been deferred at 400 park units - from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the Statue of Liberty in New York.
That's a $440 million increase over the year before and a record high, according to a newly released Park Service released report for the 2015 fiscal year.
The Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs through Asheville on its 469 miles of road from Cherokee to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, has also reached a record high deferred maintenance backlog. The parkway's $516.6 million deferred maintenance total is one the the nation's worst, according to the report.
The parkway is the most visited site in the park service, with 15 million visitors in 2015, slightly more than Golden Gate National Recreation Area. By comparison, Golden Gate’s maintenance backlog is $278 million.
The maintenance backlog for the parkway is an 8 percent increase over 2014, said parkway spokeswoman Leesa Brandon.
“That’s indicative that infrastructure continues to age and costs continue to grow and the cost of doing business grows greater each year,” Brandon said. “When you see all that put together, you see the deferred maintenance continues to grow.”
Buildings on the parkway are in need of maintenance to the tune of $118 million, campgrounds are in need of $3.2 million worth of repairs, and trails $3.5 million. But paved road repairs make up the parkway's biggest need, as $472.5 million in work is being delayed. The parkway was built in the 1930s and crosses the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and Virginia.
Deferred maintenance is necessary work – performed on infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, visitor centers, trails and campgrounds – that has been delayed for more than one year. Aging facilities, increasing use of park facilities and scarce resources contribute to the growing backlog.
“While Congress provided increases this year, the annual bill for maintenance in America’s national parks is still almost twice as much as is appropriated,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in a statement.
Congressional funding for the National Park Service in 2016 includes an additional $90 million for nontransportation maintenance. Congress also passed a highway bill providing a $28 million increase for transportation projects in parks this year. Funding for transportation-related maintenance and construction will continue to rise, by $8 million a year for five years, until it reaches $300 million a year in 2020.
Even though more maintenance items had to be deferred in 2015, these increases from Congress are welcome. Jarvis said they are part of a multifaceted approach to end the growth of deferred maintenance and eventually have enough resources to keep pace with annual maintenance responsibilities.
Chipping away at parkway backlog
This week, the National Park Service announced nearly $48 million in Centennial Challenge projects to help parks across the country improve visitor services and support outreach to new audiences, as well as tackle deferred maintenance.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation on Monday announced its 2016 Centennial Challenge project. The nonprofit will raise $411,632 to update a fire suppression system at Flat Top Manor at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, near Blowing Rock. The funds will be supplemented with an award from Congress of $294,487, said Carolyn Ward, the parkway foundation's executive director.
Last year the foundation gave $850,000 to parkway projects, some $700,000 of which went to tackling deferred maintenance projects, including upgrades to parking and trails at Gaveyard Fields, trail work at Price Lake Memorial Park and work at the Moses Cone Manor Estate.
“We’re in a unique place in time in our history. We can reflect back on the work that has been done by those who preceded us,” Ward said.
"A hundred years ago people sat around and talked about forming a National Park Service," Ward said. "That took vision and guts and commitment. I’m afraid if we don’t get that same level of commitment from the community, I have a lot of fear for our national parks 100 years from now. Unless we’re willing to stand up and protect and preserve, that maintenance backlog will continue to grow.”
The parkway’s annual budget has remained flat for many years, at $15.6 million last fiscal year.
This year there are two tunnel maintenance projects taking place – on the Tanbark Tunnel just north of Asheville, and on the Buck Spring Tunnel south of Asheville.
Things looking up in the Smokies
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which was the most visited national park with 10.7 million visitors in 2015, chipped away at some of its maintenance needs last year, said park spokewoman Dana Soehn.
The park’s total deferred maintenance backlog for 2015 was $232 million, down nearly 5 percent from 2014.
The park's 238 miles of paved roads, and 146 miles of unpaved roads need $175 million in needed repair and maintenance, Soehn said.
Buildings, including visitor centers, administration and housing, have a backlog of $16.7 million, and the park’s 850 miles of trails are in need of $17.4 million of maintenance.
“Our wastewater treatment system at the Cades Cove Area and Sugarlands area – those are systems in much need of repair,” she said. “Most were built with in the 1960s.”
One of the big projects last year that helped the Smokies chip away at the trail maintenance backlog was
A $235,000 project to rehabilitate the popular Alum Cave Trail help put a dent in the maintenance backlog. It was funded by the Centennial Challenge with $70,000 that enabled the park to bring on a youth corps.
The park, which has an annual budget of $18.8 million, also relies heavily on funding from the nonprofit Friends of the Smokies, which helped to fund the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in 2010, considered a “green building.”
“One of the things we do when we bring a new facility online is to make sure it has very efficient heating and cooling and lighting to make it more efficient and sustainable,” she said.
All parks are receiving a brighter spotlight this year with the Centennial. Many parks, including the parkway and the Smokies, are holding special events and year-long hiking challenges to attract more people, and new people to the parks, adding to the strain of crumbling roads and peeling paint on buildings.
“A lot of our focus at the Smokies during the Centennial is to reacquaint visitors with the park and engage new audiences,” Soehn said. “We’re spending a lot of time in communities to invite people to come to the park and utilize the places that are accessible, like the 850 miles of trails. There are places in the park where you can hike for days.”