Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands held an oversight hearing to examine the growing deferred maintenance backlog of the National Park Service (NPS). Subcommittee Chairman Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) issued the following statement in response:

“Despite Congress investing billions of taxpayer dollars in recent years to address the National Park System’s deferred maintenance backlogs, it has only gotten worse. That’s a problem, and the Federal Lands Subcommittee is committed to holding the Biden administration accountable for every dollar of taxpayer money that is being spent, so that we may preserve our parks and provide the very best visitor experiences.”

Background

Federal land management agencies' deferred maintenance backlogs have nearly doubled from roughly $22 billion in 2019 to $38.6 billion in 2022, despite Congress investing a staggering $9.5 billion in recent years to address the issue. Since former President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law in 2020, the deferred maintenance backlog for the NPS has actually increased by nearly $10 billion despite the law's historic investments in the NPS.

Democrats refused to hold the NPS accountable during their time in the majority, leading to unchecked spending and little to no oversight. Today's hearing was an opportunity for the House Committee on Natural Resources to begin increasing government transparency and learn more about how the NPS is using taxpayer funds.