{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-tours-acadia-national-park-with-acting-director-of-nps-highlights-need-for-restore-our-parks-act", "King Tours Acadia National Park with Acting Director of NPS, Highlights Need for \u2018Restore Our Parks Act\u2019", "2018-09-19", "2018", "2018-09", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "BAR HARBOR, ME  Today, U.S. Senator Angus King\r\n(I-Maine), Ranking Member of the Energy and Natural Resources Senate\r\nSubcommittee on National Parks, joined Acting Director of the National Park\r\nService, Dan Smith, on a tour of Acadia National Park to assess the park's\r\ncritical maintenance needs. The visit highlights the need for Congress to pass\r\nthe Restore Our Parks Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by\r\nSenator King along\r\nwith Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Lamar Alexander\r\n(R-Tenn.) that would reduce the $12 billion maintenance backlog facing National\r\nParks around the country. This legislation would have a positive impact on\r\nAcadia, which has a maintenance backlog of approximately $60 million, and the\r\nsurrounding communities. a companion bill, the Restore our\r\nParks and Public Lands Act, has been\r\nintroduced in the House.   Mary and I have gone with our kids\r\nto almost two dozen national parks across the country, but Acadia will forever\r\nhold a special place in our hearts, said Senator King. Acadia, like\r\nall of our treasured national parks, represents a responsibility that is passed\r\nfrom generation to generation: our responsibility to leave behind a better\r\nworld for those who come next. Unfortunately, we've fallen behind on that\r\ncommitment, putting off $12 billion of important maintenance projects required\r\nto fulfill the promise of these parks. Our bipartisan bill will address this\r\nbacklog, and ensure that our children and grandchildren can experience Cadillac\r\nMountain sunrises for years to come.  Senator King and Acting Director\r\nSmith were led through the park by Acadia National Park Superintendent Kevin\r\nSchneider. Also joining the tour were U.S. Representative Bruce Poliquin\r\n(R-Maine); Town Manager of Bar Harbor, Cornell Knight; President and CEO of\r\nFriends of Acadia, David MacDonald; Maine State Senator, Brian Langley\r\n(R-Ellsworth); Maine State Representative, Brian Hubbell (D-Bar Harbor);\r\nExecutive Director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, Martha Searchfield;\r\nas well as other staff members from Acadia National Park and the park's non-profit\r\npartner, Friends of Acadia.  More specifically, theRestore\r\nOur Parks Actwould establish the National Park Service Legacy\r\nRestoration Fund to reduce the maintenance backlog by allocating existing\r\nrevenues the government receives from on and offshore energy development. This\r\nconsensus legislation has been praised by witnesses at a Subcommittee on National Parks\r\nhearing in July,\r\nand is supported by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the National\r\nParks Conservation Association, the Pew Charitable Trusts' restore America's\r\nparks campaign, and the Outdoor Industry Association, among others. In addition\r\nto Senators King, Portman, Warner, and Alexander, the legislation is supported\r\nby Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Cory\r\nGardner (R-Colo.), Steve Daines (R-S.D.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.),\r\nJoe Manchin (D-W.Va.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.).  Senator King is an steadfast\r\nsupporter of the National Park System, and during his tenure in the Senate has\r\npushed for modernizations to make the parks more accessible to future\r\ngenerations, including the implementation of a pilot program to make entrance\r\npasses for parks available online, that waslauded in a Subcommittee hearing\r\nlast year. The\r\nprogram has been particularly successful in Acadia National Park (ANP); Acadia\r\naccounts for 72% of total sales in the pilot program, and online purchases\r\naccounted for 10% of the park's total entrance fee receipts in 2016.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-tours-acadia-national-park-with-acting-director-of-nps-highlights-need-for-restore-our-parks-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.6088479682803154, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}