WASHINGTON, DC – A unanimous Oregon
Congressional delegation today sent a letter to Jim Nussle, Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, calling on the Bush administration to
include $2.5 million in the Interior Department's budget to create a new
Visitor Education Center at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.Representative Greg Walden stated: “My
family and I have visited, hiked in and enjoyed the wonders of Crater Lake
National Park many times and it is one of the most awe-inspiring wonders of
the world and a defining natural feature of our great state of Oregon. As
the deepest lake in the United States and the purest lake in the world,
Crater Lake annually draws 500,000 visitors from around the world and we
need the proper facilities to help those visitors explore and learn about
our wonderful park. I am very happy to join in a bipartisan effort with all
my Oregon House and Senate colleagues to support this effort.”
Representative Peter DeFazio added, "Crater
Lake is a national treasure, and it deserves to have facilities worthy of
its unique beauty, its history, and its ecological importance."
In a creative public-private partnership,
federal funds would be matched by $2.5 million in private contributions to
be raised by the nonprofit Crater Lake National Park Trust. “Oregonians love
Crater Lake,” noted Executive Director Jeff Allen. “By making donations to
the Trust and purchasing Crater Lake license plates, they have already given
over $3 million to Park facilities and programs. Oregonians will give – but
the Federal government must also do its part.”
Allen noted there are at least two ways the
federal government could provide matching funds. “There is legislation
pending to create a 10-year Centennial Challenge matching fund of $100
million per year for projects just like this, and we strongly support it,”
noted Allen. “However, we are also pursuing direct funding for this project
on its own merits.”
The Trust hopes to have federal and private
funding secured in time to break ground by Summer 2009, in time for
Oregon 150, the state’s sesquicentennial celebration. “We can’t think
of a better ‘birthday present’ for the state of Oregon,” said Allen.
The Crater Lake National Park Trust works
to help protect, promote, and enhance Crater Lake National Park, its unique
water purity, and its value for human inspiration and knowledge. More
information is available online at www.craterlaketrust.org. Photos of the
current building and artist renderings of the proposed Visitor Education
Center are also available from the Trust.
Contact:
Jeff Allen, Crater Lake Trust 541.490.9021 (m)
