The House of Representatives proposed a stimulus plan recently that included significant funds for the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management–all of which have been suffering from budget cuts and maintenance backlogs during the last decade. Under the House plan, the NPS would get $2 billion, most of which would go to maintenance and operations costs. The forest service would receive $650 million for maintenance and decommissioning roads and trails as well as another $850 million for “wildland fire management.”
The Senate will also introduce their version of the stimulus package and the Obama Administration will also set forth a plan. Whichever stimulus is adopted, it’s likely to cost $800 billion over the next two years.