I am a heavy user of Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks for over 20 years. As a resident of Sammamish, I love to venture out of town and recharge the batteries at these special places. I know many of our local residents share my love for our three national parks and I want to pass on some information that is critically important to the park’s future.

Washington’s national parks now need nearly $400 million in critical fixes due to years of underfunding. The National Park Service recently turned 100 years old, and two Washington legislators are leading the charge in a bipartisan effort to protect all the national parks for another century and beyond.

Our own Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) along with Derek Kilmer (D-WA), are cosponsoring H.R. 2584, the National Park Service Legacy Act, the House companion to Senate S.751 sponsored by Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH). The Legacy Act will provide consistent, reliable funding to address maintenance and infrastructure needs that have plagued national parks for decades.

The maintenance backlog will continue to grow unless we take action now, and I thank Reichert and Kilmer for having the courage to put politics aside to introduce legislation that makes a strong, necessary investment in our parks.

I encourage the rest of the congressional delegation to join this bipartisan endeavor so our children, and our children’s children, can experience the beauty and pleasures of national parks for years to come. Please call or email your representative and let them know you support this important legislation.

David Barbrack

Sammamish