After months of negotiations involving Senate sponsors and conservation groups, including ASLA, Senators Cory Gardner (CO) and Joe Manchin (WV) introduced S. 3422, the Great American Outdoors Act on March 10, 2020. This legislation is a combination of two bills that have long been supported by ASLA, the LWCF Permanent Funding Act and the Restore Our Parks Act. On June 4, Representatives Joe Cunningham (SC) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) introduced companion language in the House of Representatives.
The Great American Outdoors Act would require Congress to fully and permanently fund LWCF at $900 million annually. It would also create the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restorations Fund. This fund would receive 50 percent of all energy development revenues not allocated to LWCF equaling up to $1.9 billion a year for 5 years. This fund would be split between NPS and the other federal land management agencies to help address their maintenance backlogs.
The fund would be split accordingly:
• 70 percent to the National Park Service
• 15 Percent to the U.S. Forest Service
• 5 percent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• 5 percent to the Bureau of Land Management
• 5 percent to the Bureau of Indian Educations