station in 2012. 2 years later across the border national park railway was set up a joint venture operated by the national rail companies of the czech republic and germany. it runs every 2 hours connecting the respective national parks and shortening the journey to an array of panoramic vantage points and hiking trails. from the railway takes passengers across the border and into the czech part of bohemian switzerland. we changed trains in the town of rome book and set off on the next leg of our journey following the picturesque route all the way to did. you know when the cross border national park railway project was inaugurated in 2014 it saved the then partially discontinued line here from complete closure. these tracks were originally laid primarily to transport bramah tiriel but most of the small mines and factories lining the route were not able to survive after the communist regimes in east germany and in czechoslovakia ended in 1989. they fell victim to free market forces and competition with big energy corporations. these days it's cross border tourism that the region and

how bad are repairs needed in the national park system right now? guest: pretty bad. our park over 100 years old. about agingng facilities, deteriorating facilities, many park resources are 50, 60, 70 years old and have reached the end of their lifespan and need to be replaced. add to that increasing visitation at many sites and that has brought additional wear and tear. the park service has received inconsistent funding over the years for maintenance. the agency really has been triaging the repairs it needed result, therea has been a compounding effect. some repairs they have not been able to do, they get worse, they get more costly, and that is how we end up with a backlog of $12 million. host: how much of that money will we see coming from the great american outdoors act? guest: the legislation that was passedst this week -- this week by overwhelming support, assuming it is enacted into law, that would direct up to $6.6 billion of non-taxpayer funds to address priority repairs. that is going to take a big chunk out of this repair backlog. politically,ular, was this

national historic park. protect our nt to parks, wildlife refuges, and this bill takes important steps future uard them for generations. i thank chairman grijalva for his leadership, and i urge all support thisues to bill, and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from arizona reserves. the gentleman from utah is recognized. bishop: i yield one minute to mrs. walorski from indiana. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. walorski: i rise to support the great american outdoors act. our nation's public lands have sources of easured enjoyment and beauty available to every american. they also play a critical role our economy with the outdoor recreation industry supporting million jobs. wroshging -- hard -- that.orking hoosiers know n indiana we're known as the r.v. capital of the world. i support this bill because it will support r.v. and boat and their workers, promote conservation, and reis rig our national parks -- revitalize our national parks. his bill wi

we are all incredibly proud of our national parks and public lands. they preserve the natural landscapes and represent the tapestry of our national history and that history can be painful. yet we are reminded that we have not had an honest accounting of that history. for too long, we have been blind to the way past injustices continues to shape the present. the question before us today is straightforward. do confederate flags and monuments have any place in our national parks? to answer this question, i simply ask myself what is statues and symbols commemorated . the glorification of the confederacy, its traitorous leaders, their cause of slavery and open rebellion against the united states of america. in my mind, there is only one side and the civil war we should be honoring, the united dates, and all those americans in the north and south who fought against those who tried to divide our country and perpetuate a system of systemic oppression and racial subjugation, and therefore, it is time for these monuments to come down. the statues and monuments w

logan has more and is the smallest national park in germany. located near yasmin's famous chalk cliffs it boasts the largest contiguous beech forest on the baltic sea coast. western pomerania as other world heritage sites bear witness to the history of early settlement on the baltic. the historic centers of stars and in this mars have been on unesco's world cultural heritage list since 2002 both cities belong to the hanseatic league in the late middle ages many of the typical brick buildings constructed since its golden age in the 14th century still stand today. anyone who visits stalls and should stop by the old market square it's dominated by the st nicholas church and the town hall one of the most stunning examples of northern german brick gothic architecture. the late middle ages also left their mark on the hands he had exceed the abyss mark its large market square boasts traces of 5 centuries of architectural history from gothic style through to classicism. st mary's church dates from the 13th century but it suffered severe damage in world

most people stay on the trails in national parks. the park service wants visitors to do. but harold told the ranger the trail was so crowded that they left it to be alone. although toni was a lifelong athlete, she had knee issues since her basketball playing days in high school. but if the hike was tough for her, it probably seemed worth it when the trees opened up to this. around 3:30 toni and harold ate lunch right here, with this amazing view as their backdrop. once they finished eating lunch, they continued further into the back country. before they set out, harold took this photo of toni. she's smiling, relaxed. it doesn't look like she had any inkling that anything bad was to come. harold told the ranger the ridge where they had lunch wasn't private enough. so they climbed down these loose rocks looking for another spot. at this point they were several hours into their hike with not much daylight left and not much time to keep a 7:00 p.m. dinner reservation. they ended up on a small, flat area with not a lot of wiggle room and s

huge economic boom. >> lastly i don't think people realize how many sites are actually run by the national park service that aren't really traditional parks. yesterday i was joking around i've never been to alcatraz even though i'm a lifelong san franciscan. that's a national park, right? >> that's part of the golden gate area. that's pretty amazing that you've never been there. about >> congratulations on what i see is a big win for conservationist and the national parks. the president is said to sign it but i think a lot of the heavy lifting is done. thank you, for joining us today. >> thanks, for having me. >>> this morning on the 9 we are tracking the upcoming flu season. in the next half-hour the new report on locates numbers in other parts of the world. >>> tracking the civil unrest in the pacific north west. portland protesters demand the removal of federal officers. >>> the president is moving forward with operation legend sending federal agents to some cities across the country trying to combat violence. the city of portland saw another chaotic night just last night as protesters are c

abc, we learn, doesn't like the color of the people who live near national parks or who visit them. ait, who is the racist here? this is sick. keep in mind, the first clip you saw is the guy called david bella. somehow he's in charge of the park service. his job is to keep the parks open and clean and beautiful. god made them beautiful. don't screw it up, david. he's turning nature into yet another front for racialized politics. nature has nothing to do with politics and nothing to do with race. david is a and he should resign. activists in california are demanding the removal of a statue of a very, very controversial statue of a man called mahatma gandhi. they say that gandhi was a racist. right now the demand is limited to a petition but it's probably just a matter of time before someone pulls it down. is that a good idea? jason nichols is a professor of african-american studies at the university of maryland he joins us tonight. professor, thank someone for coming on. far be it for me to defend gandhi. i wasn't a fan of gandhi. he was kind of a bad guy in a lot of ways. definitely

if considering a visit to one of our national parks, visit the national park service website at mps.gov. to find an open park in your community. thank you, mr. speaker. and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. kosta, for five minutes. -- mr. costa, for five minutes. mr. costa: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for five minutes and to ventilator revise and extend -- revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. costa: mr. speaker, i rise today to stress the importance of investing in programs that expand opportunities for every person and every -- in every corner of our nation. including my district in california, san joaquin valley. just the last week we passed a spending bill that will benefit our farmers, repair aging water infrastructure, help food-insecured residents from going hungry, and support revitalization of our efforts on public lands and combat the climate crisis by cleaning our air. as this week we have an opportunity to make further investm

the national parks are in fact racist. >> the national park service seeing the persistent whiteness ofrks is a existential crisis.el david is the first latino to leave the agency. >> do you think the parks are affected by systemic racism? >> i think as a person of color, i think our national parks and what i have found there are places where we can learn more about what happened in the past. oh >> what's the biggest factor behind that? >> i think it's going to vary among communities of color. the lack of transportation opportunities is clearly going to be a factor, but what a lot of folks who don't understand is that we are closer than what you think. especially in the urban areas. >> tucker: the persistent whiteness of national parks, systemic racism. what does that mean it? is it racism that the grand canyon is a long drive from phoenix? we have to relocate to yellowstone to a urban center? may be. if watch abc explained. >> the american wilderness, a playground for old and young and overwhelmingly white. >> you look around and don't see people you identify with. you don't feel welco

that supports national parks around the world he joins us from cardiff now tell us what's happening with the elephants in botswana poachers responsible for this this. high get out think about me at the moment it's impossible to say whether boats are involved there are 3 main candidates for what this could be poachers all farmers poisoning the elephant is one possibility the disease is the 2nd possibility and the 3rd is that this is a naturally occurring toxic something like a blue green algae or an anthrax at the moment so the results come back we don't know which one it is is it possible that if they're being hit by a disease that it could be transmitted to people i mean we have we've heard about these transgressions from from species to species recently. the most famous of all being covert 19 of course we're all living with the consequences of disease coming out of viral not a species probably a penguin and then into people and vast shut down the entire world so for me it's vital that we rule out the possibility of that happening again there's a precedent for disease transmission

karin caifa is at nationals park in washington d c where the very first pitch of he tonight.the first of a 16 game regular season for major league baseball sta the first pitch here in washington tonight a mahthe def series champion nationals in the new york yankees as major league baseball embarks upon a success ofit like everything upon the coronavirus. >>nearly 4 months behind schedule jor league baseball is set to begin the 2020 regular season. leading off a marquee matchup here in washington. the new york yankees and defending world series champion nationals. >>and first game since winning the world series and you know sort virtual fanfare around that and i think it's going make for a rea the kracker jackson 7th inning stretch is this on played without fans the stands. >>a simulated crowd noise. players no high fives for manag exchanges or argug with ups all on and around the field multiple covid-19 per week the adoption of the designated hitter in the national league in extra innings beginning with a runner on second. among the changes to movepace along. still the 1game

>>controversy tonight over the so-called father of our national parks, the sierra club is calling out its founder john muir for racist views. here's name appears across california and the bay area from schools to national mark national monuments and now his legacy is being questioned kron four's gayle ong has more from john muir's home in martinez. >>it's not the first time john muir's legacy has been questioned he's known to be races in the past the death of george floyd has ignited attention an apology from the sierra club wednesday executive director michael brune writing on the group's website saying it's time to take down some of our own monuments, the sierra club a 128 year-old organization known for their outings and preserving the great outdoors is confronting their own past reexamining the legacy of founder john mirror and his racist remarks about blacks and indigenous people made more than a century ago won 4 spoke with sierra club president ramon cruz, we also. >>we need to to the scene. >>recognize dad how environmental movement and the movement sometimes you know it would

and i was at the cuyahoga national park, the 13th most visited national park in america, a number of needs they have, adding up to about $50 million. they are annual budget is about $11 million. yet they have $50 million of things that have to be fixed. i saw railroad tracks that runs through there where the tracks have to be reappraised. i saw a bridge that is truly becoming dangerous and has to be fixed. it is an historic bridge. things that can't be done with their normal funding. we're doing that now. so after many years of trying different efforts of this and finding some success over the yearbooks the centennial act has helped a little bit, some other things to get private-public partnership money. the parks are going to be in good shape for our kids and grandkids. they can enjoy what lamar alexander has referred to, prayer phrasing ken burns as america's best idea. i would like to talk about the covid-19 legislation but i'd like to yield now to the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: i thank the senator from ohio for his courtesy. today senator tim scott from south carolina

the department of the interior's national park service is entrusted as a stored in a guardian of our national parks, monuments, and battlefields, all of which tell our story. the story includes moments of great triumph, as well as setbacks and challenges. reflecting upon these moments in solace,ory provides rejuvenation and inspiration to all of us. please join the in giving a hand of thanks to the wonderful employees of our national parks service, particularly those here at mount rushmore who have worked tirelessly to put this event on. thank you. [applause] now, they are awesome. now, as we are under the gaze of teddy roosevelt, i cannot help but note that it was through president roosevelt's leadership and resolve that we were able to enjoy the public lands and experience our national parks. and it is in roosevelt's conservation spirit that earlier this year, president trump called on congress to pass a n historic agreement investing in our public lands. last month, the senate passed for.lation that he called later this month, we expect congress will approve legislation to provide

i want to thank our men and women, they are so good, of the national park service, air traffic control, and the united states military, god bless you, god bless our heroes, god bless america. and now, let the flyovers begin. thank you very much. [applause] whistles] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome world-renowned airshow announcer robert ryder as he walks us through our salute of airpower from world war

it i also caused a series of landslides in the nearby to money money national park. to my money is home to 200 different species of plant. so there are a cypher chorale he has been working for nature conservation organization bird life zimbabwe here since 2013 now reconstruction is also on his list of tasks. restoration is something key now we have seen what is happening around with will be able set up which must be monumentally which is this is the ideal city area. it's an area that also needs restoration as well. so that she. could be there to be degraded. the environmentalist and his organization are active in 6 villages. in one of the tree nurseries villages like john janji have joined together with others to grow new trees we sit down there's a community to really. hate. our area by. branding. different in the species so we started by choosing. some. weather but it's so bad we nest there while i miss that. zachariah is worried that invasive plants species might take root and spread in the areas destroyed by either by. native plants would be of much more use to t

our district is home to 11 native american tribes, national forest and parks, the nation's largest estuary by a volume, five national wildlife refugees and brand-new heritage area so every day, i see firsthand how the investments help grow our role economies, uphold our treaty and trust obligations to native americans and protect our environment for generations to come. there's a lot in this to be proud of but i want to thank you for including the $38 million, a critical $5 million increase over fiscal year 2020. that will help our regional partners begin making real progress on the coordinated effort to recover the sound. last summer, they were kind enough to travel out to my neck of the woods to meet with local stakeholders, tribal leaders, small business owners, farmers, to see how these investments translate into coordinated, on the ground products that will help recover not only the health of our but iconic species like salmon and orca and countless livelihood that depend on this. i'm grateful this bill reflects our shared commitment to recovering which is a key economic driver for ou

controversial figures like fidel castro and they asked the deputy secretary to comment on the national park service agenda to try to represent all people give to this concern them. the response was within the parks, we telle a lot of stories and demonstrate a lot of images and narratives prove educational interpretation we are able to provide them with a better understanding of where those images exist and why this exact statues exist and to develop theird own thought they are looking at. the majority of the witnesses on the bill have similar questions that i asked her to help me understand the possible comparisons adjusted a statues. she said there was little need for concern because there's mors more than 100 euros in the park and they were only a two featuring controversial people. we use the same model, which i think we showed it to be consistent . .. >> thank you ranking member it's a great question i will take a stab at it. one of my real concerns is a level of civic illiteracy not even knowing what it was about the first world war and second world war so on one level you can say it c

he gave us many of our national parks, including the grand canyon.saw the construction of the awe-inspiring panama canal. and he is the only person ever awarded both the nobel peace prize and the congressional medal of honor. he was american freedom personified in full. the american people will never relinquish the bold, beautiful, and untamed spirit of theodore roosevelt. [applause] pres. trump: no movement that seeks to dismantle these treasured american legacies can possibly have a love of america at its heart. can't happen. no person who remains quiet at the destruction of this resplendent heritage can possibly lead us to a better future. the radical ideology attacking our country advances under the banner of social justice. but in truth, it would demolish both justice and society. it would transform justice into an instrument of division and vengeance, and it would turn our free and inclusive society into a place of repression, domination, and exclusion. they want to silence us, but we will not be silenced. [cheers and applause] [chanting "usa"]

that the gentleman thinks that i should not have an opinion on a national wildlife refuge or a national parkr a national wilderness area. my objection and work has been to protect a national wilderness area. the gentleman points out that some members in minnesota oppose this. overwhelming majority of minnesotans, the overwhelming majority of minnesotans support the actions that i am taking. the gentleman implies that i don't support mining. we have a rich history of taconite mining which at one time creates great pollution, and i support taconite mining. the gentleman points out that in canada they do sulfide copper or money which is a redone by the way in such freshwater in the united states here. canada faced itself with a huge, disastrous consequence of acres and acres of pristine forest and of fish in water being destroyed with the sulfur copper spill. so canadians are rethinking how this mining should move forward. finally i would say that yesterday in the agriculture community, i held up a 60 page redacted report. when i first became involved in this issue after the trump administratio

when i first arrived at the gombe — now the gombe national park, it was part of the great equatorial that stretched from the western parts of east africa right across to the west african coast, and when i flew over gombe national park, which is very small, in 1990, i was shocked to see a tiny island of forest and it was surrounded by completely bare hills, more people living there than the land could support, too poor to buy food from elsewhere, chimpanzees now isolated from other remnant chimpanzee groups in the area, and right across africa, chimpanzee numbers have dropped, forests have disappeared, there is the live animal trade, mothers shot to sell babies. the bush meat trade, because in some african countries, people think chimp meat is a delicacy. so that is also adding to the depletion of chimpanzee numbers right across africa. even in that answer, you have given us such a sense of the enormous environmental pressures that the chimpanzees have been under over those 60 years. i want to go through this from the beginning — i want to start by having you take us back to 1960, to

when i first arrived at the national park, it was part of the great equatorial forest belt that stretchede western parts of east africa right across to the west african coast, and when i flew over combi national park, which is very small in 1990, i was shocked to see a tiny island of forest and it was surrounded by completely bare hills, more people living there in the land could support, buying food from elsewhere. chimpa nzees could support, buying food from elsewhere. chimpanzees now isolated from other women in chimpanzee groups in the area, and right across africa, chimpanzee numbers have dropped, forests have disappeared, there is the live animal trade, mothers shot to sell babies. the bush meat trade, because in some african countries, people think chimp meat is a delicacy. so that is also adding to the depletion of chimpanzee numbers right across africa. even in that answer, you have given us such a sense of the enormous environmental pressures that the chimpanzees have been under over those 60 years. i want to go through this from the beginning, i wa nt to through this from the b

reps nps.gov which will provide the most accurate details on national park availabilities and reservationnts. and the app all trails to help locate hiking trails and bike paths both inside and outside of the parks. it's not all about the destination. samantha tweeting "gma" in search of fun and safe ways to find pit stops during her 13-hour drive. >> in terms of driving, i'd say go off the interstate, if you can. go on the back roads so you can see real america and not just the highway. >> reporter: but as you go, make sure to pay attention to local mandates. frommer recommends, at least for now, if you're booking a hotel, do it directly with the hotel. if you're using a third-party site, make sure you're really looking at that cancelation policy. just in case you change your mind. we say it time and again, but it's really important. every state has different rules, so make sure you are paying attention to that. gio benitez, abc news, new york. >> good tips there from our friend gio. >> great advice. if you're hitting the road, use a car that you paid for with your own money, because comi

the funny thing is that the national park in the highland where animals would go and take shelter during which runs between this island and the national park, and we are demanding that section should be eliminated so that the animal corridor, they are free to go towards the highland from the national park site. you and others have been campaigning about this for some time. as you say, this is becoming a more frequent event. 79 people losing their lives this time. what has the response been from the authorities? well, it has a lwa ys authorities? well, it has always been — there's history of governments being lax in the north—east, i've seen it. the population is very little and the members of parliament, the representation that part of the world, the eight states through the central government is only 24. in the lower house, 14 in the upper house. so we don't have much, our voices are very small but fortunately since the last ten or 15 years, there has been policies because of the insurgencies that happened and a lot of student movements that happened since 79. we are getting a little bi

so increasing funding for the national park service to address the maintenance backlog and hire new staff for park units. >> these are gyms and treasures and critical place. and i know maybe we can greatly use this funding and need it yesterday. so i'm glad that it's there in there. once again i want to thank the staff and the committee leadership for doing such great work on this and look forward to voting for this. i yield back. >> thank you. mr. killmer is recognized. >> thank you, madam chair. and before i begin, i want to take a brief moment to thank you, chair lowey for your incredible leadership on this committee and ecoo the comments made by my colleagues over the last few days. it's been said that leadership is not about being in charge. it's about taking care of those in your charge. and i want to thank you for the care you've shown to the members of this committee and to the people we represent. you care about our constituents, our communities, our families. our priorities and concerns are your priorities and concerns too. and on behalf of my constituents and on behalf of three

reporter: one-horned rhinos gather on artificially built highlands in kaziranga national park. e park is of underwater. staterains in the assam have killed over 100 animals. >> many wild animals have gone to the hills looking for food. the highland grass. it is not enough. annualds are an occurrence during the monsoon season, but they are becoming more severe. is human induced. there are so many dams. is not only home to the world's biggest population of the one-horned rhino, but other species including elephants and tigers. has builtrnment artificial highlands for the animals, but they are concerned it will turn into a drier habitat in the long run, making it unsuitable for wildlife. say manycials also animals prefer to leave the reserve for natural highlands. conservationists suggest clearing paths to allow them to move to the hills during floods so they do not have to cross the national highway. >> there are many things in the highlands. disoriented because there migration is blocked. babies,of young especially the rhinos, they get separated from their mother. his organizatio

so, in 2001, we hiked in yosemite, which is one of our most beautiful national parks. we height from camp to camp and we did not really displace anybody, because we were always a day ahead of the other people that came into the camp. we had one day before them. when day before the upper camps opened, so that was really fun. we have to tell the big national park, yosemite, and, glacier yellowstone, and the grand canyon, that grand canyon was the first national park we have had in together in many years, and when george was president we all took our girls, barbara, and my daughter, one of my daughters was in africa working in a hospital so she did not get to go, but janet did in that was a lot of fun. and we have to yellowstone this summer. we had been back to glacier and back to yellowstone and probably not yosemite because it's just too hard for us now at our age. >> do people, have been stopped and recognized? >> yes, we always do. we have one party is a fund-raiser, a lot of the big western parks have friends groups and so this summer we have a big park in the superi

lorna gordon, bbc news, in the loch lomond and trossachs national park.rakeford has lifted the stay local restrictions which limited how far people could travel from their home. tomos morgan is on barry island. as you can see on barry island behind me, the locals are enjoying their home comforts here, but from monday, people across wales can travel further than five miles, and more people can visit tourist hotspots like barry island. what will also be lifted on monday is that people can travel further so they can meet family as well who they can meet family as well who they may not have seen further afield. we will be speaking to some of the people living locally in barry, and although they are happy they will be able to see family and friends at a distance across wales, there are some concerns that there may be scenes as we have seen at bournemouth on barry island come next week. it will finally mean that i can see my grandson. since february i haven't seen him in the flesh so it will be lovely to actually see them, you know. we have been used to having