Lawmakers and conservationists are concerned after the Trump administration this week decided to use congressionally appropriated funds for maintenance costs incurred during the government shutdown.
This story by Miranda Green originally appeared on TheHill.com.
The shift overwrites the decision made in early January for the National Park Service (NPS) to pull from park entrance fee revenue to cover shutdown costs.
Lawmakers told The Hill they plan to investigate both the original decision and its reversal.
“It’s amazing, we squandered assets through the shutdown for nothing,” said Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chairman of the House Natural Resources committee, which oversees the Interior Department.
“This is a very bad precedent to give an administration such latitude that they are able to use predesignated funds and set them somewhere else without a challenge, so we intend to challenge that.”
NPS deputy direct Dan Smith announced last week that the NPS would no longer have to use the revenue obtained through park visitor entrance fees to pay for the maintenance and ranger oversight needed during the past government shutdown.
The announcement rolled back an earlier decision in January from Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt that parks would zero-out, if necessary, the entrance fee or FLREA funds in order to keep parks clean and maintained during the on-going government shutdown.
Lawmakers at the time said they would investigate the legality of the move.
