Law boosts funding for federal parks

PUT-IN-BAY — U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's years-long effort to provide funding for U.S. parks, such as the Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, has finally become law. The provisions of Portman's Restore Our Parks Act are included in the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, which President Trump signed into law last week. The new law provides each year from fiscal years 2021 through 2025, up to $1.9 billion of royalties paid to the federal government for petroleum production will go into a fund for deferred maintenance projects for the National Park Service. Portman says the measure will help address a huge backlog in needed work at national parks, both across the country and in Ohio. "This is a landmark moment in our efforts to protect and restore our national parks, and I applaud President Trump for signing this bipartisan bill into law. The Restore Our Parks Act will help rebuild our national park infrastructure by helping to address the more than $12 billion backlog in long-delayed maintenance projects throughout our park system while supporting more than 100,000 jobs over the next five years," Portman said. "Now that this important legislation is law, Ohio's national parks can start to address the more than $100 million in critical infrastructure improvements necessary across our eight national parks. As an avid outdoorsman, I appreciate the bipartisan efforts in the House and Senate to enact this legislation and I look forward to implementing this bipartisan law quickly," he said. The Perry Peace Memorial has been moving forward this year on plans to use $29 million to repair seawalls that protect the memorial. If all goes well, construction on the north seawall repair will begin in spring 2021. The Perry Memorial, however, has a total of $46 million of deferred maintenance needs, according to a list of Ohio park needs released by Portman's office. The senator has visited South Bass Island and said he hopes his bill will help fund needed construction at the Perry Memorial. Work also is needed at Cuyahoga Valley National Park near Cleveland and at other Ohio parks, Portman says.