Crater Lake may be Oregon's crown jewel, but the state's only national park needs some love. Like many national parks, Crater Lake has not received enough money to keep up with maintenance.
And a combination of harsh winters and heavy use keeps up the pressure on park facilities.
A campaign to fix up the park is gathering around the National Park Service Legacy Act, introduced in both U.S. House and Senate. It would take some mineral royalty money from digging and drilling on federal land and divert it to the parks.
The plan has major boosters in Medford. Bill Thorndike is president of the Crater Lake National Park Trust and Brad Hicks is the president of the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County. They are our guests.