Second Gentleman visits Grand Teton to announce funds for National Park Service

GRAND TETON NATION PARK, Wyo. (KIFI) - "I'm very pleased to formally announce $44 million from President Biden's investing in America agenda."

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled to Grand Teton National Park on Wednesday.

The Biden-Harris administration is giving this money to the National Park Service.

Some of it will stay with this park.

Out of the $44 million, more than $700,000 of it will be going toward Yellowstone National Park and right here in Grand Teton National Park.

They want to help the parks conserve their natural landscape.

The first thing park rangers want to do is protect the sagebrush. They say sagebrush is one of the main habitats for the animals living here in the park.

"Restoring sagebrush helps us build healthy ecosystems, which support access to water, local communities and economies," EMhoff said. "It's critical that we protect these habitats and allow them to grow and strengthen climate resilience."

Another restoration project is for the whitebark pine trees that are exclusively native to the pacific northwest.

"We are investing in these precious places safeguarding vulnerable, including threatened endangered species through these investments. Grand Teton and other parks in the region, in partnership with tribes, will execute the national whitebark pine restoration strategy," Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shanon Estenoz said.

This whitebark pine project in particular has been an ongoing effort for the past 20 years.

They say all of these funds are used to help combat the climate crisis.

"This new investment overall will support 43 projects across 39 states d.c., Puerto rico, U.S. Virgin islands, to make parks and communities everywhere more resilient to climate change, which, as we all know, is the existential threat of our lifetime."

The National Park Service will use this money to help them combat the increase in drought and also increase in wildfire potential.