I came across the following story about how the public can vote online on which national parks get funds for their preservation projects. Twenty historic sites in national parks are vying for $2 million in preservation grants, and the public is invited to vote for their favorite places at http://VoteYourPark.org. The program, called the Partners in Preservation Campaign, is funded by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, with National Geographic hosting the VoteYourPark website and promoting the effort on social media.
Grant requests range from $97,000 to restore a historic lodge at Yosemite National Park to $250,000 for stabilizing the mooring quays at Pearl Harbor. Park sites with the most votes will get their requests fully funded. The top seven vote-getters are guaranteed full funding. Other sites will share the balance of the $2 million depending on how many votes they get. Every one of the 20 contenders will also get a $10,000 participation grant. Voters can also enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to Yellowstone National Park.
You can read the full story at http://www.pjstar.com/news/20160525/public-can-vote-on-national-park-site-preservation-funds?page=1. For me, it is kinda of strange to see that online voters determine which preservation projects are needed the most. There is over 4.5 million dollars of proposed projects but only 2 million dollars in the contest. What do you think?
Todd DeDecker, BHHA Administrator
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