By Steve Keenan The Register-Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — As visitation numbers swell on the heels of the fairly fresh minting of the United States’ newest national park, National Park Service employees and those in the general public as a whole are mindful of the needs to expand or update infrastructure going forward.
Eve West, the chief of interpretation, visitor services and cultural resources for New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, Bluestone National Scenic River and Gauley River National Recreation Area, says park officials are looking several years down the road.
Enacted into law in 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address deferred maintenance backlog for five federal agencies and provided permanent full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
West says it’s still “too early” to definitively discuss projects that will eventually help shore up infrastructure in the local NPS entities…
