National Parks will get a boost from the federal stimulus package but not as much as had been proposed. Mike Simonson reports from Superior.

The House package had put aside $1.7 billion to create jobs by tackling the National Park Service's maintenance backlog. But that number shrunk to $750 million after House/Senate negotiations, what one insider calls a victim of bipartisan negotiations.

Still, the Park Service maintenance backlog has been growing over the years, so Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Superintendent Bob Krumanaker says any and all help for the Lake Superior park is welcomed.

"There are many things we can do on trails, on campgrounds, on utility systems and on docks that would fit their criteria but even in the best-case scenario we'll still have quite a backlog when all this is done. (Gives you some hope, some optimism?) Oh, it sure does, it sure does. This is good for America. It's good for the National Parks."

The 21 island group has a $9 million dollar maintenance list.

"And that is essentially how much money we need to maintain all of the stuff we're supposed to be doing. But in reality we couldn't even if they were to say there's $9 million for it, they're not all shovel ready. In fact, most of them are not."

One of the park's biggest attractions is its eight 19th century lighthouses, most are on the maintenance list but Krumanaker says need architectural plans before they can be considered "shovel-ready".

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