<span>SALT LAKE CITY – The five National Parks in Utah and others around the U.S. could get some much-needed maintenance and additional staff if Congress approves a proposed budget under consideration. </span>
<span>John Garder, budget and appropriations director with the National Parks Conservation Association, says Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is asking Congress to increase National Park Service funding by more than $400 million, an increase of more than 10 percent. </span>
<span>After years of recession-related budget cuts, Garder says the parks are in pretty rough shape and need help.</span>
<span>”Improvements to trails,” says Garder. “Restoring trails that are crumbling, improvements to visitor centers where they have out-of-date programs, leaking roofs, bathrooms that are decaying and other needs.”</span>
<span>Garder says some parks have deteriorated to the point of causing dangerous conditions for visitors. He says there is more than $30 million of “deferred maintenance” at Bryce Canyon alone. Similar circumstances exist at Arches Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Zion nationals parks.</span>
<span>Garder says maintaining and improving the parks also is critical because they are huge economic drivers. He says the numbers from 2013 tell the story.</span>
<span>”In Utah, nearly nine million visitors spent nearly $600 million and that supported more than 9,000 private-sector jobs,” he says.</span>
<span>Countrywide, Garder says national parks contributed about $27 billion to the U.S. economy in 2013 and supported nearly a quarter of a million jobs.</span>