Senate Introduces Great American Outdoors Act to Fund Public Lands
The Senate just introduced up a major public lands funding bill that ensures $900 million will go out for LWCF projects each year and makes up to $1.9 billion available for public lands deferred maintenance. The outdoor community has been leading these efforts but they got a significant lift last week as we shared here, when the President tweeted that he hoped Congress would put a public lands funding bill on his desk as soon as possible.
Led by Sens. Gardner, Daines, Heinrich, Manchin, and Warner, the Senate created a package called the Great American Outdoors Act, which includes permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) as well as funding for the Restore Our Parks Act (ROPA).
And, thanks to a lot of work from Outdoor Alliance, partners like American Whitewater and Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, and people like you, the bill now also includes an additional $600 million per year for addressing the maintenance backlog on our National Forests, BLM lands, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education.
Briefly, here’s what each part of the bill will do:
Permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
The Land and Water Conservation Fund provide crucial funding to create parks, trails, and recreation infrastructure around the country. Although LWCF is authorized to get $900 million each year, none of that funding is guaranteed, so in practice it gets about half that, and the rest of the funds are diverted for other purposes. This bill will guarantee full funding for LWCF each year.
Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act
Years of inadequate funding by Congress have led to a maintenance backlog on National Parks, but also on National Forests and other public lands that Americans enjoy. ROPA will provide funding of up to $1.9 billion every year for the purposes of deferred maintenance on National Parks, National Forests, BLM lands, and more.
Last Friday, we called this bill “a total unicorn” – it’s a rare and magical opportunity to pass two key public lands funding bills in one fell swoop – but we’re not quite there yet. Opportunities like this can be fleeting, and nothing is done until it’s done. It’s super important that we capitalize on this momentum and apply pressure to Congress to pass this package. Use the tool at the bottom of this post to write your members directly.
“We are over-the-moon thrilled to see Forest Service included in ROPA with a funding bump on the total,” said Thomas O’Keefe, PhD, Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director at American Whitewater.
"America's public lands are for everyone to enjoy," said Chris Winter, Executive Director of Access Fund. "We have proven once again that taking care of our natural legacy is not a partisan issue. We applaud Congress for doing the right thing."
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been supporting recreation opportunities all across the country for more than 50 years, but providing dedicated funding will ensure that for the first time, the program is able to meet its full promise—every year, year after year,” said Louis Geltman, Policy Director for Outdoor Alliance. “We’re also really pleased to see the maintenance needs of our public lands management agencies, including the Forest Service, BLM and the National Park Service, finally being addressed in a serious way. Taking care of our country’s public lands and waters should be a no brainer, and it’s gratifying to see Congress finally taking action.”