Amata Highlights Conservation Efforts in Celebrating Earth Day, National Park Week, and Arbor Day
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Uifa’atali Amata is celebrating Earth Day (Monday), National Park Week, and Arbor Day (Friday), along with highlighting current conservation efforts in the Natural Resources Committee.
“As an original cosponsor, I’m pleased to help co-lead bipartisan conservation legislation that would have nationwide impacts in promoting better preservation along with encouraging outdoor activities,” said Congresswoman Aumua Amata. “National Park Week begins with Earth Day and closes with Arbor Day. These three events work in harmony to promote taking care of our resources, making responsible trash and recycling choices, supporting the treasures of our National Parks, and encouraging the importance worldwide of healthy trees to provide better air and wildlife habitat.”
Amata is an original cosponsor of the America’s Wildlife Habitat Conservation Act, H.R. 7408, which invests $320 million in grant opportunities to work with state and territory wildlife action plans. She is also an original cosponsor of the bipartisan Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act (EXPLORE) Act, supporting recreational activities in a host of ways. Related efforts in the Natural Resources Committee include the bipartisan Save Our Sequoias Act, and the bipartisan Military and Veterans in Parks (MVP) Act, which includes access upgrades for Wounded Warriors, and works with nonprofits that support outdoor activities for veterans and service members.
“Thank you most of all to our local National Park employees and volunteers!” continued Aumua Amata. “Our National Park of American Samoa is unique among the others. All over our islands with tropical rainforest, we have abundant natural beauty that we can take pride in and leave to each new generation.”
The National Park of American Samoa is the only one south of the Equator, a multi-site Park on several islands, home to South Pacific plants and species not found elsewhere in the U.S., and includes offshore coral reefs.
In 2020, Congress passed the comprehensive bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, which included increased support for National Parks and guaranteed funds in the important Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). As the most substantial conservation legislation in decades, the law was called as “a conservationist’s dream” by the National Parks Conservation Association.
National Park Week is an initiative of the National Park Service (NPS) and the National Park Foundation. The NPS is part of the Department of the Interior, under the jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Committee in Congress for oversight and funding. The United States is home to 63 National Parks and 424 sites in the National Park system, including monuments, memorials, battlefields, historic sites, and scenic trails.
###