BREAKING: House Passes Great American Outdoors Act

We are thrilled to share that the House just passed the Great American Outdoors Act by 310 to 107. Outdoor Alliance and the outdoor community made this victory possible.

The Great American Outdoors Act will provide billions in funding for public lands and waters, trails, green spaces, and parks. As you may remember, the Senate passed the bill back in June, after massive outreach from the outdoor community, and now it goes to the President’s desk for his signature, where it will become law.

Thank Your Lawmakers

Louis Geltman, Policy Director for Outdoor Alliance, said “"The outdoor recreation community is over the moon to finally see full, guaranteed funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and a new funding stream to begin addressing decades of congressional neglect in the funding of public lands and waters maintenance. As the past few months have shown, outdoor recreation opportunities are absolutely essential to health and well being, and far too many Americans lack ready access to the outdoors. This vote is the culmination of years of advocacy by the outdoor recreation, conservation, and hunting & angling communities among others, and we are tremendously grateful for the efforts of everyone who contributed to this win."

This victory is the cumulation of years of work from the outdoor community, the conservation community, and hundreds of other partners. Last year, we secured permanent reauthorization of LWCF through the public lands package, and now we have secured dedicated funding for the program, along with $1.9 billion a year for public lands maintenance and restoration. This package, and the public lands package from last spring, are evidence that the outdoor community can get things done, even in a challenging political environment.

You can read our full policy letter on the bill here, but it has two main pieces:

Permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides 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. Now, LWCF will be guaranteed full funding every year, without needing Congressional appropriation.

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 deferred maintenance on National Parks and other public lands for up to five years. Outdoor Alliance advocated to have additional funding added to the bill for maintenance on National Forests, BLM lands, and other public lands.

One key piece of the Great American Outdoors Act is that it will help fund more equitable access to the outdoors. LWCF is a key mechanism for cities, counties, and states to fund the creation of new parks, trails, green spaces, baseball fields, and more. As we work to ensure that everyone has access to the outdoors, this funding will help create green spaces where they are most needed.

In addition, it will help restore our National Parks, National Forests, and other public lands and waters, which are under pressure because of increased visitation in the last few years.

Tens of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts spent time writing, calling, and educating their members of Congress about why public land funding is so important. The passage of this bill is testament to the hard work of the outdoor community, and its ability to get great policy across the finish line. You can read more about the bill here, and if you’re keen to do more, drop a quick thank you note to your members with the tool below, and help pave the way for more conservation policy in the future: