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L.L. Bean. Congress is on the

verdage of passing a major piece of legislation that will drastically improve public lands

by addressing a serious issue that's been facing the

national parks and national forests and other federal land agencies

the maintenance backlog. Today on

America's National Parks we talk about the Great American Outdoors Act which

has huge bipartisan support and what it means for our national parks.

I'm Jason Epperson.

If you're to visit Theodore Roosevelt National Park this summer, you want to know that the 28-mile loop road hasn't been an actual loop for over a year.

A 4.5 mile section of the drive in the south unit of the park is closed to motor vehicles indefinitely due to erosion failure.

Meaning that you have to turn around when you reach the gated end, doubling the length of the drive and blocking

off some great hiking and overlooks.

Roads in the park are frequently in need of repair as the Badlandsations erode easily.

It's part of what makes the park so beautiful.

But the road is just one of many projects

that fits into the National Park Service's 12 billion dollar

...