NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | October 5, 2018 | PAGE 15
New interactive tool looks at critical repairs
needed at National Parks in Oregon
Tool breaks down $116.5 mil-
lion of overdue repairs by park
and type
National Park Service (NPS)
sites are challenged by $11.6
billion in backlogged repairs.
A new deferred maintenance
interactive tool put out by the
Pew Charitable Trusts shows
the overdue repairs needed state
by state and park by park, using
NPS data. Pew acquired the in-
formation through a Freedom
of Information Act request to
NPS.
“Identifying repairs needed
at national park sites in Oregon,
brings home that we must make
it a priority to secure reliable
funding to preserve these na-
tional treasures in our own
backyard,” said Willy Myers,
executive secretary of the Co-
lumbia Pacific Building and
Construction Trades Council.
The interactive tool shows
that park sites in Oregon had
$116.5 million in deferred
maintenance in 2017, with
about a quarter of that needed
for historic structures and nearly
65 percentm for transportation
assets, which could include
roads, parking lots, and bridges
and possibly impact access.
“Our community and busi-
nesses count on the tourism
dollars generated by visitors to
NPS sites in Oregon,” said My-
ers. “Last year alone, Oregon’s
national park visitors spent
$91.6 million in communities
near these sites, having a posi-
tive economic impact and sup-
porting jobs.”
This information comes on
the heels of an analysis com-
missioned by Pew that found
that if $11.3 billion were in-
vested to fix deferred mainte-
nance across NPS’ 400-plus
sites, more than 110,000 jobs
could be created or supported,
including more than 1,000 jobs
in Oregon.
Almost 3,000 groups nation-
wide, including the Northwest
Oregon Labor Council, have
called on Congress to dedicate
funding to fix repairs at NPS
sites.
There is currently bipartisan
legislation moving through
Congress, with the support of
the Trump Administration, to
provide funding for priority re-
pairs over five years. In Oregon,
Sen. Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep-
resentatives Greg Walden, Earl
Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonam-
ici, and Kurt Schrader are all
sponsors of the legislation.
To use the deferred mainte-
nance interactive tool go to:
To use the deferred mainte-
nance interactive tool go to:
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/re-
search-and-analysis/data-visualiza-
tions/2018/national-park-deferred-
maintenance-needs
...New NAFTA
From Page 13
PROUDLY ENDORSED BY:
• Northwest Oregon Labor Council
• Joint Council of Teamsters No. 37
• Clackamas County Fire Fighters Local 1159
• United Food & Commercial Workers Local 555
• Lake Oswego Municipal Employees'
Association, AFSCME Local 1546
Endorsed by
NW Oregon Labor Council
Importantly, the provision does not
establish a united NAFTA front to combat
currency manipulation and misalignment
by non-NAFTA parties. In short, the
currency rules do not set a strong marker
for China or other non-NAFTA partners
with a history of currency manipulation
and misalignment.
The renegotiation of NAFTA
is not over. U.S. Trade Repre-
sentative Robert E. Lighthizer
has made a good start and incor-
porated some of labor's advice,
and there is still much work to
do. America's unions will con-
tinue to work to improve the
rules of trade to benefit our
members and all working fami-
lies of North America. There-
fore, we are glad that Canada
and the U.S. reached a last
minute deal, but we need to re-
view the new text to understand
its effects on working families.