WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., sent a letter to the Department of Transportation requesting timely assistance to help Yellowstone National Park and its gateway communities repair the damage caused by recent historic and unprecedented flooding.
In the letter, the delegation specifically calls on the Biden administration to provide emergency relief funds to help begin the immediate repair of critical infrastructure needed to restore park operations.
“The timely and efficient delivery of funds is imperative to restoring park operations and helping gateway communities. We urge you to use all of your current authorities and funding to help National Park Service address this disaster,” the delegation wrote. “Your ability to quickly and effectively respond to the infrastructure and disaster-response needs of the Park Service will have an immense impact on Yellowstone, its millions of annual visitors, and the gateway communities whose economies depend on the park.”
Click here for a copy of the letter.
June 17, 2022
Dear Secretary Buttigieg,
Yellowstone National Park, the nation’s first National Park which attracts over four million visitors annually, has received historic and unprecedented flooding. During the week of June 12, severe rainfall produced historic floodwaters and rockslides, causing significant damage to vital infrastructure in and around the park, including roads and bridges. This damage has created substantial interruptions to park operations that will continue to occur until repairs can be made.
The timely and efficient delivery of funds is imperative to restoring park operations and helping gateway communities. We urge you to use all of your current authorities and funding to help National Park Service address this disaster.
We request that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provide Emergency Relief funds to help begin emergency repairs. In the near term, we ask the FHWA to immediately provide ample sums of its “quick release” Emergency Relief funds in order to fulfill the Park Service’s initial needs. Once such funding has been provided, we ask that FHWA continue to deliver sufficient emergency funding to Yellowstone National Park on an as-needed basis for critical emergency repairs and resiliency improvements. In particular, the Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads Program (ERFO)— which assists the National Park Service with the repair or reconstruction of federal roads and infrastructure with severe damage from natural disasters or from catastrophic failure— should be utilized to the fullest extent needed.
As Yellowstone’s infrastructure is rebuilt, we ask that you consider any future funding requests from Federal, State, and local partners to help repair damaged infrastructure and boost resiliency to any future natural disasters. This includes any potential applications through the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) program or the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program (known as the INFRA program).
Your ability to quickly and effectively respond to the infrastructure and disaster-response needs of the Park Service will have an immense impact on Yellowstone, its millions of annual visitors, and the gateway communities whose economies depend on the park.
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