October, 24 2008, 02:45pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Laine Hendricks, Central Valley Program Manager 559-229-9343 or 559-285-3039 (cell)
New Yosemite Overlook Restoration Underscores Need for Continued Investment in National Parks
WASHINGTON
STATEMENT BY: Laine Hendricks, Central Valley Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association
"The new Tunnel View Overlook at Yosemite National Park is an important improvement in a park that needs and deserves so much more attention.
"Like many of our national parks, Yosemite has several million dollars worth of infrastructure needs. Any effort to put Americans to work rehabilitating our nation's infrastructure should include our national parks, which have more than an $8-billion backlog of repair needs, including several billion dollars in critical road repairs.
"National parks provide tremendous value for our families, our communities, and our economy: for every federal dollar invested in national parks, at least four dollars in economic benefit are generated for state and local economies.
"The 2016 centennial of the National Park Service is fast approaching. In preserving our national parks, the next president and Congress can protect our national heritage for our children and grandchildren, enhance the infrastructure of our country, and use the national parks to help our country meet some of today's most pressing challenges-from green jobs to clean air. "
NPCA is a non-profit, private organization dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the U.S. National Park System.
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Reports released this week from two organizations that advocate for journalists underscore just how deadly Gaza has become for media workers.
Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
The organization has also filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court "for war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists," according to the roundup, which includes stats from January 1 through December 1.
"In Gaza, the scale of the tragedy is incomprehensible," wrote Thibaut Bruttin, director general of RSF, in the introduction to the report. Since October 2023, 145 journalists have been killed in Gaza, "including at least 35 who were very likely targeted or killed while working."
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