Nineteen national parks, monuments and historic sites in Arizona will share in more than $20 million in stimulus funding, officials said Wednesday.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar released details of more than $750 million in projects paid for with money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
By directing money to the parks, Salazar said, “we are creating a new legacy of stewardship for our national park system while helping our economy stand up again.”
Grand Canyon National Park will receive more than half of the $20.4 million set aside for national park sites in Arizona. Among the projects funded by the $10.9 million for the Canyon are repair and upgrade work on the historic trans-Canyon trail, repair work on North Rim trails and structures damaged by wildfire, repair and preservation work on 130 miles of road and the purchase of five alternative-fuel transit buses.
A sampling of other sites receiving money:
• Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northwestern Arizona will get $2.9 million for work on roads, restrooms and trails.
• Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona will get $1 million for work on a visitor’s center, campground and roads.
• Saguaro National Park, outside Tucson, will receive $1.5 million to restore landscape and habitat, install gates, repair trails and seal hazardous mine sites.
• Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site at Ganado on the Navajo Reservation will receive $86,000 to rehabilitate the historic picnic area and do farmland preservation work with the Navajo Youth Corps.
• Chiricahua National Monument in southeastern Arizona will get $838,000 for road and trail work and repair work at two historic structures.