APPOMATTOX — U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine are urging congressional leaders to increase funding to address the maintenance backlog facing the country’s National Parks, including the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

“With a nearly $6 billion maintenance backlog attributable to the type of repair, rehabilitation and cyclic maintenance projects that receive funding through the Interior appropriations bill, it is imperative that the noteworthy increases provided last year be sustained or increased,” the senators wrote in a letter to congressional appropriators.

“It is crucial that national park facilities be kept safe and accessible so they may continue to welcome and educate the millions of American and international visitors who pass through their gates each year.”

Last year the National Park Service (NPS) was forced to defer $163 million in non-transportation maintenance projects at its sites in Virginia, including the park in Appomattox.