[inaudible conversations] >> this discussion will be available to view online in its entirety shortly on our website, c-span.org. type bipartisan policy center in the video search box which you will find at the top of our home page. on friday morning a live look at the us capitol where neither the house nor senate are in session today. not every member has left the district. in an hours house judiciary committee chair jerry nadler will brief reporters. we expect lots of questions on the robert mueller hearing. c-span will carry it live starting at noon eastern.

in about 10 minutes or so we will go live to the national governors association summer meeting in salt lake city. maryland republican governor larry hogan will be among speakers. live coverage starts at 11:15 a.m. eastern on c-span2. >> we are back with marcia argust, product director for restore america's parks. thank you for being with us. >> guest: thanks for having me. >> host: tell me what restore america's parks is and what is your interest in the subject? >> guest: the restore america's parks campaign started three years ago at you and we are focused on protecting national parks. resources, cultural resources, natural resources by addressing the deferred maintenance backlog that iscu affecting th national park system. this $12 billion worth of repairs that need to be done nationwide.s

>> host: how does that backlog come into being? have parks been underfunded the entire time or is this something that has happened in the past few years suddenly? >> guest: it started happening over a number of years, the past decade even more. the national park service is over 100 years old and the stability and infrastructure of our parts are deteriorating. a lot of structure has reached the end of its lifespan. add to that 300 million visitors come to our parks each year and there is not enough p funding for the parks to keep up with repairs. >> host: how many national parks are there and who is in charge? who manages national parks? >> guest: the federal manager see -- agencies the nationale. park service, there are 400

national park units and the iconic western parks, yellowstone, you simonetti and battlefields, gettysburg, the national seashore, national cemeteries, taking care of a lot of plates up there and they are very diverse. >> host: what are the repairs you are talking about needing to be done. are we talking fencing, benches, campsites kick you what are the types of repairs the needs to be done with national parks? >> guest: parks are similar to cities and towns in the infrastructure they are taking care of. wildlife is in our parks, what people don't realize iss

national parks are managing over 500 miles of roads, 28,000 buildings. employee housing, historic structures, water systems, water lines provide drinking water for visitors, food systems to take care of restrooms, visitors want in parks, and many of this infrastructure is 50-60 years old. >> host: are there any particular areas you are focusing on more than others or are we talking about the entire system? is there something at gettysburg you know needs to be fixed right now as opposed to a general overall all the infrastructure needs to be -- >> guest: we are trying to adjust the issue systemwide.se the park service has a list they want to address issues park by park but what we would

like to see is a solution that provides dedicated funding to the park service so they are not just reliance, and there is bipartisan legislation in the house and senate that would provide dedicated funding for the parks. >> host: what can be done and what should be done to make sure national parks are in the future? if you would like to join this conversation we will open our phone lines by region this morning. if you are in the eastern and central time so we want to hear from you at 748-8000. we want to hear from you 202-748-8001. a special line, we especially want to hear from you.

tell us what needs to be done.. that line for people who visit a national park in the last year will be 202-748-8002. and on social media, c-span wj and on facebook, facebook.com/c-span. how much money is needed to bring our national parks around the nation up to snuff? >> guest: the priority repairs that need to be addressed total $8 billion. those are the repairs most important to address. the mission of each park's visitor safety, the protection of resources. the legislation in congress right now, i should add that is supported by over a third of the senate and 2 thirds of the house and the administration, that would provide $6 billion

over a period of five years, enough to put the park service on sound footing and address those most important repair needs. >> host: let's talk to mark in california, good morning. are you there? we can hear you. >> caller: i am right here, thank you. as far as maintenance, my family and i in the past, in california, i see the california conservation corps that employs a bunch of teenagers maintaining the local parks where i live in napa and

they do a great job. parks really need help, they've been there for a long time. a lot of history and glad they are being looked at, thank you. >> guest: you bring up an interesting point. there are partnerships that involve students and veterans and they do fantastic work. they help with trails, the park service, helps them save money. partnerships like that, they are not able to do some of the work like roadwork, addressing sewage system. keeping of the partnerships, they still need that significant in congress to address some of those projects, partnerships and philanthropists don't want to take on.

and a tweet says the federal government pays $200 million an hour and social security. no money for anything else. what do you say when they say we don't have the money and have more important priorities the national parks. >> guest: this legislation is not based on taxpayer funds. it comes from energy development royalty and this is energy development that occurs on federal lands and waters. this is not a new concept. this is something that has been going on since the 1920s and the 1950s. we feel that is a good use of royalties to support our parks. the other response, investing in our parks has a huge great

of return, parts are economic drivers. not only do they contest resources but they enable visitors to support local economies. the number last year is $20 billion people are pumping into local economies. >> host: louise calling from west virginia, good morning. >> guest: i agree we need to restore our parks. i watched the senate speaking about that the other day. so glad the senate is bringing that up. i think we should have manufacturers or local people in the state furnish the concession stands in the gift shops. it seems as if everything is made in china and you pay $70 for a jacket made in china. why can't we get a $70 jacket

or $30 t-shirt made in america? i think it is awful, so many good artists in the states all over the place and i think these arts and crafts people should be selling things in our parks. i believe they are doing a good job to restore the parks act. it is a great thing. i look forward to our national parks. >> guest: i can't speak to concessionaires. >> now we welcome to the podium in ga's chair, governor steve steve bullock. >> i hope everyone enjoyed yesterday's