MILTON, Del. - On Monday afternoon, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), visited Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge to discuss the Great American Outdoors Act.
The law would permanently give money to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and would also provide funding to address deferred maintenance on our federal lands, including our national wildlife refuges.
The bipartisan legislation passed in the Senate and is now waiting for the House to act.
"This is a national treasure ... there's always been a shortage of money for our national wild life refuges, a shortage of money for our national parks," says Senator Carper.
Senator Carper also adds if the Great American Outdoors Act passes, it will have implications for generations to come.
"We have two wildlife refuges that people come from all over the world to visit. Not just Delaware, not just the Eastern Shore, but all over the world. We want to preserve this treasure but we also want to make it a better education for people who come here and why it is significant," says the U.S. Senator.
$9.5 billion would be allocated over five years for deferred maintenance on federal lands.
"The refuge houses basically 80 to 90,000 visitors a year. This legislation will help us keep the infrastructure together so we can offer a good experience for our visitors," says Refuge manager, Art Coppola.
For Prime Hook, deferred maintenance refers to upkeep of the roads, docks, and buildings, Coppola says a new visitor's center is coming to Prime Hook and Bombay Hook that will cost 7 to $9 million.
"We also provide a fund of $900 million a year into LWCF that has provided the development for Cape Henlopen State Park, for Fox Point State park up on the Delaware River near Pennsylvania," says Senator Carper.
Although this is not going to cure the shortage of money entirely, "it's going to go a long way meeting that good need, not just as a one time fix but an on going basis," says Senator Carper.