Inyo National Forest receives additional $1.6M to improve campgrounds, accessibility and staff housing

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Inyo National Forest receives additional $1.6M to improve campgrounds, accessibility and staff housing

Made possible through funding by the Great American Outdoors Act

Bishop, Calif., June 24, 2024 — On June 4, 2024, the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region announced its investment of just over $35.6 million in funding from the Great American Outdoors Act. The Inyo National Forest will receive $1.6 million of that to improve campgrounds, day-use site safety and accessibility and staff housing maintenance.

Three projects will receive additional funding to help address critical needs in infrastructure improvement across the forest:

• Inyo Campground Improvements Project

• • Additional funding to renovate the Grays Meadow, Onion Valley, Lower Lee Vining, Aspen, and Moraine Campgrounds.

• Day-Use Sites Safety and Accessibility Project

• • Complementing a Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) project with the Federal Highway Administration, this project will analyze and fix accessibility, safety, pedestrian flow, and layout at heavily used and aging day use sites.

• Housing Deferred Maintenance Project

• • Improving safety and accessibility at four housing sites for employees; critical for recruiting staff due to housing shortages and costs

“This additional funding will help renovate recreation facilities like Hot Creek Day Use Site and Grays Meadow Campground that are popular with locals and visitors,” said Adam Barnett, Public Services Staff Officer for Inyo National Forest.

“Completing repairs to employee housing helps us attract and retain the staff we need to manage the national forest.”

These projects are made possible by the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, established by the Great American Outdoors Act, which addresses the growing $8.6 billion backlog of deferred maintenance on national forest and grasslands.

News Staff