Congress Expands Petrified Forest National Park
The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is celebrating passage of legislation to expand Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
“This is an enormously significant statement of bipartisan support for our national parks and the preservation of an irreplaceable national treasure,” said NPCA Vice President for Government Affairs Craig Obey. “In the end, the desire of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ) to get this done, coupled with broad support for the expansion in Arizona and nationally, won the day.”
The administration; local landowners; the Museum of Northern Arizona; the City of Holbrook, Arizona; the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce; the City of Winslow, Arizona; Navajo County; and NPCA, among others, testified before Congress and voiced support for the park expansion, which protects priceless dinosaur and plant fossils, pueblo ruins, American Indian graves, and rock art on 128,000 acres, now vulnerable to vandalism and theft, adjoining Petrified Forest National Park.
“Congress has protected world-class scientific and archaeological resources and a landscape that will inspire generations of Americans,” Obey said.
Petrified Forest National Park had been named to NPCA’s list of America’s Ten Most Endangered National Parks in 2000 and 2001.
NPCA, its members, and partners work together to protect the park system and preserve our nation’s natural, historical, and cultural heritage for generations to come.
