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Olympic National Park Superintendent Dave Morris hopes some of the $5 billion President Bush promised Wednesday for recreational improvements will find its way to the Peninsula’s wilderness jewel.
But to be effective, he says, the money needs to be dedicated for routine maintenance of national parks, not new amenities.
“It’s easier to get money to build an outhouse than it is to get money to change a lighthouse or buy toilet paper,” Morris said, reacting to Bush’s funding proposal.
Under Bush’s plan, $5 billion would be earmarked during the next five years to clean up a backlog of maintenance problems in national parks throughout the country.
In addition, Bush is calling for an annual report on the condition of national parks and ways to improve them.
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