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Washington, DC -- Today, the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on "Exploring Innovative Solutions to Reduce the Department of the Interior’s Maintenance Backlog." Dan Puskar, executive director of the Public Lands Alliance, called on Congress to:

• Create a dedicated, reliable, and sizeable funding source for all DOI public lands that eliminates the existing maintenance backlog while providing necessary routine and cyclic maintenance funding to prevent future backlogs.

• Incentivize philanthropy and nonprofit support for appropriate maintenance projects and other visitor experience enhancements by expanding matching fund programs, like the NPS Centennial Challenge, to other DOI agencies.

Other witnesses included:

• P. Daniel Smith, Deputy Director of the National Park Service

• Steve Guertin, Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

• Steve Iobst, National Park Service, Retired and National Park Conservation Association

• Jason Rano, Vice President, Government Relations, National Park Foundation

Click here to watch a video of the hearing or read witness statements.