Historic Great American Outdoors Act passes the House, now to the president's desk

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act today, a piece of bi-partisan legislation that will fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and provide much needed funding for the crippling $12 billion deferred maintenance backlog at national parks.

By a vote of 310 to 107, the bill moves forward, one that would invest nearly $2 billion per year to restore national parks, conserve land to ward off the impacts of climate change, and put parks and playgrounds in urban areas that sorely need them.

The legislation passed the Senate on June 17 by a 73-to-25 vote.

The bill has 59 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle along with 200 lawmakers who joined the bipartisan effort to get it passed.

“Thank you to Congress for passing the Great American Outdoors Act which will fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund," said South Lake Tahoe Councilman Devin Middlebrook who is a member of The Mountain Pact. "In California alone, LWCF invested almost $2.5 billion. It has contributed to projects in our community like the Campground by the Lake and Bijou Park. The program is truly a win-win for voters and our land alike.”

The Mountain Pact is a nonprofit project with the Sierra Business Council as their fiscal agent. Local governments and agencies throughout the west, including South Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Mammoth, Bend and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, are members of the Pact. It was formed to empower mountain communities to build resilience in the face of economic and environmental stresses through a shared voice on federal policy related to climate, public lands, and outdoor recreation.

“In the West, we know firsthand how important our public lands and the great outdoors are to our communities, small businesses, and visitors," said Executive Director of The Mountain Pact, Anna Peterson. "We’re so thankful to the House leadership for bringing home one of the biggest conservation laws in recent history for the American people. The passage of the Great American Outdoors Act is a huge win for our communities as they work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and serves as a powerful public lands legacy for future generations.”

"The Great American Outdoors Act will help sustain our state’s vital outdoor recreation economy, which is the reason for the success of so many of our small towns and businesses,” added the City of Reno's Vice Mayor Devon Reese.

Funding LWCF and park maintenance will help create “shovel ready” infrastructure projects that put Califorians back to work. The National Park Service recently found that the Great American Outdoors Act’s five-year investment of $6.5B in park maintenance would support 100,000 jobs nationwide in that time period and contribute $9.6B to the US GDP.

“This is an historic day,” said Rue Mapp, Founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro. “The passage of the Great American Outdoors Act provides permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, ensuring investment in outdoor access for future generations. Today helps affirm the fundamental right that all people have access to the outdoors- whether it's in our local parks or our National Parks. We thank our California leaders for helping to inspire Black connections in nature today.”

Ahead of the House vote, President Trump tweeted his support for the measure. It now goes to him for signing.