Celebrate America’s best idea getting better. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced earlier this month that it will invest $1.6 billion in 2021 to address deferred maintenance projects and improve transportation and recreation infrastructure in national parks, national wildlife refuges and recreation areas, and at Bureau of Indian Education schools. According to the DOI, the investment will support an estimated 18,851 jobs and contribute $2 billion to the nation’s gross domestic product this year, a welcome economic boost for gateway communities – including those near the 15 national parks that set visitation records last year. 

That news serves as a reminder to celebrate National Park Week, which begins with free admission on Saturday (April 17) at over 400 parks overseen by the National Parks Service. The celebrations continue through April 23 with themes and special programs each day.

• On Military Monday (April 19), park rangers will present the military history of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in southern Colorado.
• On Thursday, April 22 (Earth Day) artist Julia Buckwalter will set up her easel at the Shafer Canyon Overlook in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park to teach visitors the nuances of landscape painting.
• In celebration of Junior Ranger Day on Friday, April 23, kids can join a fossil preparator working on specimens discovered in Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park.  

No matter which park you celebrate in, visitors are required to wear facemasks in National Park Service facilities and buildings – even at the base camp of Denali in Alaska, which will reopen to mountaineers on April 28. Some parks will also require reservations, including Yosemite National Park in California and Rocky Mountain National Park.

POWERING UP: When electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian offered to build an EV charging station in Salida, Colorado at no cost to taxpayers, Mayor P.T. Wood jumped at the opportunity. His excitement was tempered when he learned that only Rivian vehicle owners would be able to use the chargers, one barrier to the adoption of EVs discussed in WGA’s Out West podcast, Electric Vehicles in Rural Areas. Ultimately, Wood struck a deal with Rivian to install four exclusive fast chargers and four slower chargers open to the general public that are similar to the chargers the company plans to build in all Colorado state parks. Elsewhere in charging news, the Alaska Energy Authority is looking to use money from the Volkswagen Settlement to install 10 to 14 charging stations along the 480-mile Railbelt, from Homer and Seward to Fairbanks, Alaska.

CYBERSECURITY: A cybersecurity breach at the Post Rock Water District in Kansas mirrored other breaches at water facilities around the county in recent years. The ease with which these attacks were accomplished highlights the need for local governments to invest in their cyber workforce – a topic WGA will address in two webinars: Solving the Cyber Workforce and Skills Shortage on Friday, April 16, and Leveraging Technology to Address Cybersecurity Challenges, on Tuesday, May 4.

INVASIVE BIRD DISEASE: Scientists have identified a deadly toxin that's been killing birds for over 25 years. Thousands of eagles and other fowl have died from the mysterious condition that attacks their nervous systems. Now, in a paper published in Science, an international team of researchers have determined the culprit, a previously unknown neurotoxin called aetokthonotoxin, which could be produced by a deadly combination of invasive plants, opportunistic bacteria, and chemical pollution in lakes and reservoirs. Learn how Western Governors’ are combating invasive species by reviewing the work of the Biosecurity and Invasive Species Initiative or listen to WGA’s Out West podcast on how data sharing helps scientists get ahead of invasive species.

STATE OF THE STATE: Western Governors have been delivering their annual State of the State address in recent months. Watch all addresses delivered to date and see a ‘word cloud’ of the top issues discussed by Jared Polis of Colorado, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Mike Dunleavy of Alaska, Greg Gianforte of Montana, Doug Burgum of North Dakota, Brad Little of Idaho, Doug Ducey of Arizona, Laura Kelly of Kansas, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Steve Sisolak of Nevada, Kate Brown of Oregon, Spencer Cox of Utah, David Ige of Hawaii, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Jay Inslee of Washington, Mark Gordon of Wyoming, Gavin Newsome of California, and Lemanu Mauga of American Samoa. Read, watch all addresses.

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