![]() ![]() This brief examines the NPS’ maintenance backlog, which the agency claims totals $11.9 billion, to better understand the extent of critical, high-priority public infrastructure needs in the parks. This misdirected request for taxpayer funds could reduce the amount of resources available to the NPS and other land management agencies for public-interest infrastructure in the outdoors, such as the maintenance of trails, the upkeep of historic sites, and restoration and conservation projects. ![]() 5 A review of the NPS’ list of deferred maintenance projects reveals that the NPS requests hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to finance corporate infrastructure in the parks. government routinely bills taxpayers for the maintenance of the hotels, restaurants, and other infrastructure from which these businesses profit. And some concessionaires are fighting, and winning, trademark battles for the names of national parks.Īlthough these trademark battles have grabbed headlines, a Center for American Progress review finds that concessionaires are quietly reaping the benefits of operating in national parks without fully absorbing the costs. Aramark 3 and Delaware North 4 have collectively given more than $500,000 to politicians since 2010. The top-four concession holders in national parks-Aramark Parks and Destinations, Delaware North Companies, Forever Resorts, and Xanterra Parks and Resorts 2-also wield immense political power. Hotels, food service providers, gift shops, and other concessionaires, such as Delaware North, are profitable businesses in the national parks. However, corporate interests have been steadily attacking and whittling away at that idea. ![]() 1 At the heart of what is now playing out in a protracted court battle is the meaning of America’s national parks: Are they tools for private profit or are they national treasures for the public?Īmerica’s national parks should be owned by and managed for the benefit of all Americans. As a result, T-shirts bearing the phrase “Yosemite National Park” were no longer allowed to be sold in park gift shops, and the National Park Service, or NPS, spent $1.7 million dollars changing signs and logos across the park. ![]() The company had claimed trademarks for the iconic park’s half-dome logo and many uses of the park’s name. In early 2016, Yosemite National Park made headlines when Delaware North, a private company, lost its concession contract in the park. ![]()
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