Interior Dept. reveals $750M in economic stimulus money to restore national parks, create jobs

Interior announces $750M to restore national parks

WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says $750 million in economic stimulus money will go to restore and repair national parks, including $30 million to fix the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

Other projects announced Wednesday include $26 million to repair buildings and a seawall at New York’s Ellis Island, where millions of immigrants first entered the country; $5 million to refurbish Philadelphia’s Independence Hall; and $54.7 million for dam removal and others projects at Olympic National Park in Washington state.

Salazar said the announcement, timed with observances of Earth Day, dramatized the Obama administration’s commitment to restore and protect America’s most special places. The projects are expected to save or create at least 20,000 jobs.

The money is part of the overall $787 billion stimulus package that Congress passed earlier this year.