Summer visibility in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has dropped from 65 miles to 12 miles in large measure because of the impact of auto pollution, and in some western parks air pollution from autos has approached levels experienced in Los Angeles. At the same time, even as congressional appropriations have increased, they have lagged behind the growth in need. In real dollars, discounted for inflation, the purchasing power of the Park Service appropriation is actually less than it was in 1983. Meanwhile, annual visits have grown to more than 265 million. NPCA believes that the use of revenue bonds to finance priority park projects offers a promising fiscally prudent means to supplement appropriations for this purpose, if a technically feasible way can be found to accomplish it.
Revenue bonds are a well-known financing technique among states and local governments.
Several states have employed this technique for park purposes. For example, Oklahoma has issued three such bonds in the 1990's for state parks. The first bond was publicly placed and backed by revenue generated at all state parks. The second one was supported by revenue generated from parks where funds were used, while the third bond was backed by revenue tied to income from particular projects. Bond proceeds that assisted non-revenue producing projects were backed by the state's full faith and credit.