Funding America’s Public Lands through the Legacy Restoration Fund
Image: Peter Thomas via Unsplash
Passed by Congress in 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) dedicated billions in funding for the maintenance backlog on public lands through the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) and provided permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). This was a huge victory for trails, parks, and public lands and across the country, and the culmination of years of work from the outdoor community, the conservation community, and hundreds of other partners.
In total, the bill has provided as much as $2.8 billion a year for public lands, outdoor recreation, maintenance and restoration, and new green spaces. Since its passage, the Legacy Restoration Fund has restored assets within parks that are particularly important to users, such as trails, campsites, restrooms, ranger stations, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure that supports visitor experiences. Some highlighted projects include new and improved campgrounds at Yosemite and Zion National Parks, expanded access to climbing at Rumney in New Hampshire, adaptive trails at Gooseberry Badlands in Wyoming, and road repairs in the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks.
The Legacy Restoration Fund is necessary to address deferred maintenance, meaning essential infrastructure construction, maintenance, and repair projects that go uncompleted each year due to chronic underfunding from Congress and other challenges. Although the Legacy Restoration Fund has helped these agencies make progress towards addressing deferred maintenance needs, federal land managers still face a more than $41 billion backlog with the Fund set to expire at the end of September 2025.
With visitation to public lands and waters steadily increasing, it is important to make sure Congress renews funding to support infrastructure repairs and improvements. Recently released economic and participation data show ongoing rapid growth in outdoor recreation. Funding to repair, restore, and protect recreation infrastructure is critical for managing these increasing levels of use.
Recently, Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Steve Daines (R-MT), along with Senators Warner (D-VA) and Cramer (R-ND) introduced a bipartisan bill to extend deferred maintenance funding for parks and public lands. The America the Beautiful Act would extend the Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) to address continued maintenance needs for parks and public lands.
“The National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund that Congress passed as part of the Great American Outdoors Act has helped to restore, maintain, and improve parks and public lands that are valued by millions of Americans across the country,” said Louis Geltman, Vice President of Policy & Government Relations at Outdoor Alliance. “Outdoor Alliance and the human-powered outdoor recreation community are grateful for the work of Senators Daines and King to renew the Legacy Restoration Fund, which expires next year. With outdoor recreation growing in popularity, extending this critical funding for park and public land maintenance is needed to provide a high-quality visitor experience and protect our country’s incredible natural resources.”
Despite considerable progress over the past few years, federal land management agencies still face significant deferred maintenance backlogs. Inadequate appropriations from Congress, coupled with record inflation, has meant that important projects continue to go unfunded. Providing additional funding for deferred maintenance projects can help to re-open many areas to the public, which could be beneficial in addressing overuse and capacity issues. Additionally, agencies need staff to do all of the planning, analysis, and other work that informs projects on the ground.
Funding for maintaining parks and public lands is essential for America’s public lands and waters and the outdoor community’s recreation opportunities. Maintenance funds have become increasingly important as visitation has increased. The passage of GAOA was one of the most significant wins for public lands in the last few years, and Outdoor Alliance looks forward to working with Congress and the administration to ensure the fund will be renewed before it expires in late 2025.