Denali, like any national park, is funded by a mixture of Congressionally-designated money, campground fees, entrance fees, business partners (both private sector and non-profits) and private donations. Campground and entrance fees are of course paid by immediate park users, while much of the Congressionally-designated money comes from you - the American taxpayer.

Using these funds, managers at Denali National Park and Preserve strive to create a balance between protection of this special place while meeting the needs of the visiting public. Your money can be seen at work in myriad ways, but a few high-profile examples are:

• Recent (2005 - 2008) renovation of the Eielson Visitor Center - making it both more sustainable and a more inspirational, educational and comfortable place for park visitors;
  

• A portion of mining restoration efforts in the Kantishna area, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA);
  
  
• Projects, funded by ARRA money in 2009 - 2010, for a variety of construction projects, like a building new emergency services building near Park Headquarters; replacing and/or rehabilitating a variety of front country infrastructure (e.g., waste water treatment facility and antiquated fuel, power and water lines); and improving visitor amenities.
  

Most of these projects put private-sector construction firms to work, though a few - like trail maintenance - are done by government employees.

Yearly reports by the Superintendent's Office detail additional accomplishments by park employees, often thanks to the taxpayer dollars that fund base operations in the park.

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An explanation of "FLREA":

The Fiscal Year (FY) 1996 Interior Appropriation Bill established the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, which allowed parks to keep monies collected through entrance and campground fees to expend toward specific types of projects.

This program was replaced with the Federal Lands Recreation Enhance Act (FLREA) in FY 2005. As with the Fee Demonstration Program, 80% of the money collected from Denali's visitors through entrance and campground fees is allocated directly to the park, and is used on pre-apprroved projects. The other 20% goes to the NPS Washington office, to be allocated to other parks through a competitive process. Both pots of money can only be allocated for projects that address one or more of the following criteria:

 - must be a high priority
 - improve the visitor experience
 - reduce the deferred maintenance on visitor use assets
 - maintain previous investments
 - restore habitat directly related to wildlife dependent recreation
 - provide law enforcement related to public use and recreation

Some of the FLREA-funded projects that took place in Denali in FY 2010:

 - construction of a new Teklanika River Rest Area
 - study of the impacts of human waste on Mt. McKinley
 - rehabilitate and address safety hazards on the Triple Lakes, Horseshoe Lake and other trails
 - develop community based education programs with gateway communities
 - create an education network through partnerships and long distance learning
 - address park film accessibility issues
 - protect Artist-in-Residence artwork

A recent example of FLREA-funded work:

The $1.49 million project to completely rehabilitate the Teklanika Rest Area located at Mile 30 on the park road was completed in August 2010. It was paid by FLREA (Federal Land and Recreation Enhancement Act ) funds, which are monies collected from entrance fees e e t monies The project included the replacement of the 28 chemical toilets with new ventilated vault toilets that don't require any chemicals. They are also all ADA compliant. The chemical toilets were replaced as part of the goal to elminate all chemical toilets in the park in order to bring the discharge from the park's wastewater treatment facility into compliance.

The construction project also included regrading the rest area's existing parking lot, and the rehabilitation of the observation deck and weather shelters. New photovoltaic panels provide power to energy efficient LED light fixtures controlled by motion sensors, aiding visitors utilizing the facilities early and late in the season when darkness is an issue.

Additional benefits from the new rest area included reduced levels of maintenance (tanks need to be pumped only once per week, versus daily) and reduced levels of administrative traffic on the Denali Park Road. Both will contribute to an estimated cost savings of $80,000 annually.