MEDIA ADVISORY

Interior Secretary Norton to Release Report Showing
National Parks Receiving Record Funding for Operations

More Than 4,000 Improvement Projects Completed, Underway or Planned

(WASHINGTON) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton will release a report on America's national parks Thursday showing record funding for park operations. The report also details major efforts underway to improve, repair and maintain facilities throughout the system.

"President Bush has committed a record amount of funding to our parks and we are seeing the results across the country from Acadia National Park in Maine to Yellowstone in Wyoming to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii," Norton said. "Visitors are seeing improved trails, more accessible campgrounds, rehabilitated visitor centers, better roads, stabilized historic structures and reduced environmental threats through better sewer, water and drinking systems."

"The Park Service operations budget is $1.8 billion, or 15 percent higher than when this administration took office," she said. "We have undertaken 4,000 improvement projects and tripled funding to preserve and study wildlife and other natural resources in the parks."