Great American Outdoors Act

The Great American Outdoors Act was passed in 2020 to provide billions of dollars in funding for trails, parks, and public lands and waters across the country. It includes permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and funding for the maintenance backlog on National Parks, National Forest, and other public lands. In total, the bill means as much as $2.8 billion a year on public lands, outdoor recreation, maintenance and restoration, and new green spaces.

This victory is the cumulation of years of work from the outdoor community, the conservation community, and hundreds of other partners. In 2019, Outdoor Alliance helped 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.

 The Great American Outdoors Act 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.

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