Secretary Haaland Highlights New Investments in Park Infrastructure, Outdoor Access and a Growing Outdoor Economy in North Carolina

Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

RALEIGH, N.C. — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz today concluded a visit to North Carolina, where they highlighted new investments to create urban parks and trails and upgrade existing park infrastructure.  

On Monday, Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary Estenoz toured restoration projects on the Blue Ridge Parkway funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), including Doughton Park and Laurel Fork Bridge. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of the most visited units in the National Park System, supporting nearly 18,000 jobs and generating a cumulative $1.7 billion to local economies along the 469-mile road in 2022 alone. To address long-overdue maintenance and infrastructure needs, the Blue Ridge Parkway has received $253 million total from GAOA’s Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), helping improve visitor experience and public safety. 

The GAOA is a historic investment in the protection and sustainment of our public lands and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. Since 2021, GAOA projects have supported an average of 17,000 jobs and generated an average of $1.8 billion for local economies annually. The GAOA permanently authorized funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which celebrates its 60th anniversary on September 3, and established the LRF, a bipartisan investment that improves visitor experiences, bolsters climate resilience and invests in the economy by creating good-paying jobs in recreation areas, national parks, and wildlife refuges. GAOA’s LRF funding sunsets after fiscal year 2025 and would need to be reauthorized by Congress to continue the efforts underway to address significant infrastructure needs across public lands. 

On Tuesday, Secretary Haaland joined Governor Roy Cooper to announce more than $17 million in awards to help build urban parks in the Raleigh area through LWCF’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program. In Yeargan Park, an $8.5 million grant will empower the town to begin constructing a new park with four multiuse sports fields, a path connecting the park to historic downtown Garner, play and picnic areas, restrooms, and more. At Smoky Hollow Park, a nearly $8.7 million award will help Raleigh develop a new natural and passive park, restore the Pigeon House Branch and Pigeon House Greenway Trail and upgrade other functional and aesthetic aspects of the park. The new funds will also help provide a natural oasis in the heart of Downtown Raleigh, converting a blighted 18-acre parking lot into a re-naturalized meadow landscape with a daylighted and restored Pigeon House Branch stream. Secretary Haaland spoke with community members at both parks about how the urban park renovation projects made possible by ORLP will enhance access to nature, cultivate community connection and support the local communities’ health and prosperity. 

Secretary Haaland also visited Walnut Creek Wetland Park which received nearly $1 million in ORLP funds earlier this year to create a brand new public outdoor recreational area, increasing outdoor access for the historically underserved surrounding community. A new open-air pavilion will be constructed providing opportunities for environmental education, community art, cultural and historic interpretation, and space for families and community to gather. The project will also improve site resiliency by removing invasive species and restoring native plants. 

The ORLP program is a nationally competitive, dollar-for-dollar matching grant program, that was created to aid disadvantaged, urban communities that lack access to close-by outdoor recreation. Funds can be used for the acquisition and/or development of, or substantial renovation of, public parks and other outdoor recreation spaces. The latest round of ORLP funding follows a nationwide tour by Assistant Secretary Estenoz to hear directly from community members on the need to connect communities with access to the outdoors, and to encourage state participation in the ORLP program.

During her visit, Secretary Haaland also announced new economic data that shows in 2023, 325.5 million national park visitors spent $26.4 billion in gateway communities, supported more than 415,000 jobs to local economies, and contributed $55.6 billion to the nation’s economy overall. In North Carolina alone, national park visitors spent $2.6 billion in local gateway communities across the state, supporting nearly 39,000 jobs. North Carolina ranked second in the nation for total park visits and associated economic benefits, boosting the state’s economy by $4.1 billion.  

Secretary Haaland underscored how historic investments from the President’s Investing in America agenda and the America the Beautiful initiative are helping supercharge the growth of the outdoor economy, as well as advancing the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to ensuring that everyone, no matter their background or zip code, can enjoy the benefits of green spaces and the outdoors.  

###