$105M fund launched for new Yellowstone National Park infrastructure, education
by Carter Williams ksl · KSL.comKEY TAKEAWAYS
- Yellowstone National Park receives a $105 million fund for infrastructure upgrades.
- The fund supports stewardship projects, infrastructure and education, boosting park access.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praises the initiative as a legacy of conservation and enterprise.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new fund launched in a public-private partnership seeks to help maintain upgrades at the world's first national park.
The National Park Service announced that it has reached an agreement with Tallgrass Energy Partners — an energy subsidiary of the Blackstone Group — and Yellowstone Forever on a $105 million fund that raises money for future stewardship projects, new infrastructure to boost access and visitor experiences, and new educational experiences for Wyoming students and visitors alike.
A new $35 million visitor center at Norris Geyser Basin is among the projects being considered with the new fund, WyoFile reported.
The launch of the Tallgrass WYld Yellowstone Initiative comes as questions have been raised about funding for National Park Service projects.
In a statement, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum likened the new program to efforts President Theodore Roosevelt made to enhance access to 2.2 million-acre Yellowstone, decades after the park was established with parts of modern-day Wyoming, Montana and Idaho in 1872.
"This historic $105 million investment honors that legacy, bringing together the best of American enterprise and conservation to expand access to Yellowstone and inspire the next generation to experience America's great outdoors. We're grateful to Blackstone, Tallgrass and Yellowstone Forever for their partnership and extraordinary commitment," he said.
It's a "transformational investment," added Lisa Diekmann, the president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever, the park's official nonprofit partner.
While it's unclear how the money will be used exactly, outside of a new visitor center, she said it allows the park to "meet urgent needs today" while also building out longstanding support for future research, education, stewardship and visitor infrastructure.
The National Park Service will retain all management decisions tied to the funding, which the agency said will be "consistent with applicable laws, policies and park priorities."
Monday's announcement comes two months after the Associated Press reported that many maintenance projects approved for this year were relegated to a "low priority" list to make way for Freedom 250-related projects in Washington, D.C.
Forty-five Yellowstone projects were included, according to a list that the Center for Western Priorities published earlier this month.
"These are the everyday projects that keep parks open and running: roof repairs, replacing outdated computers, even buying toilet paper and garbage bags. None of that is low priority. It's the basic work national parks need to function," said Lilly Bock-Brownstein, the conservation group's creative content and policy manager, at the time, about all of the projects included.
The organization also noted that 51 projects at parks across Utah's national parks were also relegated this year.
It's unclear if the Yellowstone agreement could set the tone for a new way to fundraise projects across Utah's "Mighty 5," but there have been at least discussions about addressing deferred maintenance at the Utah Legislature.
A bill proposed last year even sought to take over approximately $387 million worth of deferred maintenance projects at the time. It ultimately didn't pass.
In the meantime, Sean Klimczak, the global head of infrastructure at Blackstone, said he hopes that the new Yellowstone fund will help protect the park for future generations.
"This historic gift reflects our belief that infrastructure investment can and should be a force for good, helping us invest in Yellowstone's future and the growth of the communities that surround it," he said.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.