A House Natural Resources subcommittee will examine ways to improve accessibility at national parks, building on the EXPLORE ACT, a major bipartisan investment in parks and federal lands that became law last year.
The Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a session, titled “EXPLORE America250: Enhancing Accessibility at our National Parks and Public Lands.” It’s expected to highlight the National Park Service’s efforts this year to grandly celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with events across the country. The hearing follows a January meeting that marked the EXPLORE Act’s one-year anniversary.
Democrats are likely to use the meeting to again criticize Trump’s management of public lands, pointing to staffing cuts and a recent White House budget proposal that would reduce national park funding by roughly $1 billion.
The meeting this week could feature debate over reauthorizing the Great American Outdoors Act, a bipartisan law that also invests in parks and public lands. House Democrats have objected to what they describe as a proposed “slush fund” for projects favored by the president in current discussion drafts.
