For National Park Week, what better place to visit in America’s 250th year than Minute Man National Historical Park in Massachusetts, site of the first battle in the War of Independence. Visits on August 25th will be fee-free to mark the National Park Service’s 110th birthday. 

In the run up to the 250th, Minute Man was able to make vital repairs, including a section of the Battle Road Trail, thanks to the federal Legacy Restoration Fund. The fund has started to clear the $24 billion maintenance backlog at places of natural beauty or historical significance across the country. But it has expired and most of the backlog remains.

That’s why we are calling on our representatives in Congress to support the America the Beautiful Act which would continue the Legacy Restoration Fund. In Massachusetts, the fund has also made investments at Boston National Historic Park and Cape Cod National Seashore, home to 32 rare or endangered species. But our special natural and historical sites need sustained investment to ensure they can be enjoyed for decades to come.

The America the Beautiful Act is bipartisan, which reflects the fact that Americans of all stripes love our great outdoors. There is a tradition of support across the aisle for protecting our special places. For example, over the past 120 years presidents from both parties have designated 168 national monuments.

Speaking at the Grand Canyon in 1905, Republican Teddy Roosevelt warned against actions that, “treat any part of our country as something to be skinned for two or three years for the use of the present generation, whether it is the forest, the water, the scenery.” Instead, Roosevelt urged, “handle it so that your children’s children will get the benefit of it.”

This is especially relevant in our nation’s 250th year, as we reflect on the good things about our country that we have inherited thanks to the work of previous generations, and how we can pass them on to future generations. 

For now, we’re asking Bay Staters to contact their U.S. senators and House representatives to urge them to push for a vote in Congress on the America the Beautiful Act. 

Let’s keep Massachusetts, and America, beautiful. 

John Rumpler, advocate with Environment Massachusetts

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