The unsexiest parts of national parks just got critical $$$

Sewage pipes and water lines aren't the sexiest things in national parks. But they're critical. The main water line in Grand Canyon National Park, a park considered a crown jewel of the conservation agency, breaks or sprouts leaks between five and 30 times a year. "The line is always breaking," said Jon Jarvis, the former director of the Park Service who stepped down in 2017. The infamous water line is part of a now nearly $12 billion backlog in the agency's collection of busted roads, pipes, and facilities. Yet a couple of weeks ago, an intensely divided Congress finally passed the Great American Outdoors Act — giving parks more than $6 billion to start repairs — and President Donald Trump signed the historic bill on Tuesday (while butchering the word "Yosemite"). Park experts say the act, while certainly not a remedy to all the Park Service's considerable infrastructure woes, is of critical significance to the parks' future — and the millions who visit. Read more...More about Environment, National Park Service, Science, and Climate Environment