ROANOKE (WSLS 10) Mostly everyone in Southwest Virginia has used the Blue Ridge Parkway.
It's unique to the area, but because of cuts in federal funding there have been challenges to maintain the park.
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Which is why political leaders are asking for money to be released to help pay for maintenance for national parks including the Blue Ridge Parkway.
If you travel along the parkway, you can easily see picturesque views you won't find anywhere else, but views are getting block.
"The views have become overgrown in many cases," Susan Mills, the Executive Director of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway said.
Mills said sometimes the overlooks can get crowded with limbs and they have to be maintained --- sometimes it's done by volunteers.
"Maintaining some of these views that do not require heavy equipment," she said.
Scott Ramsburg is the Information Manager for Roanoke County Parks and Recreation and Tourism.
Ramsburg said anything that helps bring funding to parkway is vital, because the parkway is a tourist attraction it brings people to check out Explore Park in Roanoke County.
"Especially as it pertains to outdoor recreation, tourism that's really growing at this time in the roanoke valley," Ramsburg said.
Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner wrote letters to congressional leaders asking for funding for national parks.
Kaine said there's nearly a $6,000,000,000 backlog for maintenance projects like infrastructure, maintaining visitor centers and rest stops.
Kaine said just last year the national park service was forced to defer $163,000,000 in non-transportation maintenance projects at its sites in Virginia and nearly $18,500,000 that money was for the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Kaine says national parks are vital for tourism.
"Virignia is now one of the top ten tourism states in the United States as far as people coming to visit we're top ten and one of the reasons we are is because of our national parks," Kaine said.