YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - In 1974, the first time Vice
President Joe Biden visited Yellowstone National Park, he was a
single father in his 30s still suffering the heartbreak of having
lost his wife and 1-year-old daughter in a car accident two years
before.
With his two young sons, Biden, then the junior senator from
Delaware, rented a camper in Salt Lake City and drove north to
spend a week in the country's first national park, Biden told a
group of about 100 park employees, contractors and their families
at the Madison Junior Ranger Station. Partly inspired by his sons'
love of the Yogi Bear cartoon, Biden said he had hoped the trip
would help the family heal.
"This gave nourishment to the body and soul," he said. "I can't
even explain it. But it was real."
Biden returned to the park Monday, this time with 16-year-old
granddaughter Naomi, as part of a two-day tour touting the nearly
$25 million in stimulus money spent on projects in Yellowstone and
Grand Canyon National Park.
There are 800 stimulus-funded projects under way in the
country's national parks in what the White House has dubbed the
"Summer of Recovery." In total, $750 million of the $862 billion
stimulus package was allocated to the National Park Service for
"shovel-ready" projects, those that would repair or construct
needed infrastructure and create jobs.
"For too long, our national jewels have been neglected," Biden
said. "If we were booming, things in the park still needed to be
done. We're beginning to polish, once again, these national
jewels."
Earlier in the day, Biden toured the site of the new Madison
wastewater treatment plant with Jon Jarvis, director of the
National Park Service. The $4.7 million replacement will double the
capacity of the more than 50-year old facility and operate more
efficiently, said Zach Jerla, project manager.
Though he admitted it wasn't the most "glamorous" of projects,
Biden said the new system was a good example of the kind of
construction stimulus money was budgeted for.
"It's all about being able to use this beauty without marring
this beauty," he said.
According to Bill Emerson, superintendent of Dick Anderson
Construction-the Montana firm contracted to replace the wastewater
treatment facility-the approximately two-year project will employ
25 to 30 workers from Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Work began at the
end of April.
There are 14 stimulus-funded projects worth approximately $12
million either in the works or completed in Yellowstone, according
to the Department of the Interior's Recovery Investments website.
They include: resurfacing the south entrance road; demolition and
replacement of substandard trailers used for park service employee
housing; and installation of a hydroelectric generator near Mammoth
Hot Springs.
After his speech, Biden posed for photos with the employees and
their families. Ruth MacDonald even got a hug and a kiss on the
cheek from the vice president, after making him laugh.
"I told him, 'I think I'm the oldest thing here, except for
maybe the park,'" said the 83-year-old Livingston resident, who was
there with her husband Alfred Albert.
According to the MacDonalds, Biden apologized for not asking
Al's permission before the spontaneous burst of affection toward
his wife.
"After 64 years (of marriage to Ruth), I guess he should have,"
Al joked.
Biden said he and Naomi planned to explore the park Monday
before heading to the Grand Canyon on Tuesday. The two spent the
weekend golfing, hiking in Beehive Basin and rafting the Gallatin
River, he said.
Editor's Note: This story was changed on July 28, 2010, to
correct the spelling of Alfred MacDonald's name.
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