A win for parks

More than ever, Americans are attuned to the outdoors. Staying close to home and yearning for fresh air and nature is a prevalent feeling. Congress — yes, with support from both major parties — is heeding that mood in a monumental way.

The House voted Wednesday to approve the Great American Outdoors Act, a measure that will steer up to $2.8 billion per year, mostly from offshore drilling revenue, to pay for upgrades in federal parks and programs across the country. In California, the bounty will flow to deserts, beaches and Sierra slopes. The National Park Service, with a backlog of $12 billion in repairs, will be a big winner.

It almost didn’t happen. For years, the drilling money was earmarked for outdoors work. But Congress dipped into the funds for other bills and remained reluctant about locking up the dollars for their original purpose.

That changed this year by a political fluke: Two endangered Republican senators in Idaho and Colorado appealed to their party ranks to support the bill and improve the pair’s chances for reelection. The Senate fell in line and the Democratdominated House is doing the same. President Trump has indicated he’ll approve the final package.

The backstage politics in no way diminish the achievement. The scope of the spending and the needed work will make this measure one of the largest wins in decades. Trails will be rebuilt along with rundown ranger stations and leaking water and septic systems. The cherished public world of Yosemite and Point Reyes will be renewed. There will be an urban upgrade for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area centered in San Francisco. The money to make sure it all happens will keep flowing.

A wellmanaged outdoors that includes tall trees and flowing rivers is a reminder of what climate change threatens. Degraded parks are a blotch on civic responsibility and the notion of national heritage. On a positive note, the results show that a flicker of bipartisanship exists in a deeply divided country.