The effort to reauthorize the Legacy Restoration Fund continue to show momentum.
On Wednesday, Jun 24, the House Natural Resources Committee will mark up the Great American Outdoors Act 250, H.R. 9250. The bill would extend and reform the Legacy Restoration Fund for national parks, national forests, and other public lands.
If your Representative is a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, please call them and ask them to vote to support the Great American Outdoors Act 250 and the negotiated compromise bill, the America the Beautiful Act. A few key points to make:
These bills, will extend critical public land maintenance funding five years and provide an additional $1.9 billion annually to address parks, forests and other public lands crumbling roads, decaying buildings, outdated water systems and many more critical repair needs.
To date, the Legacy Restoration Fund has successfully addressed billions of dollars in high priority deferred maintenance and repair needs in our public lands in every state throughout the country. These projects include campground restoration at Yosemite and Zion National Parks, cemetery rehabilitation at Petersburg National Battlefield, retrofit of the 30 year old BLM managed National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, roof restoration at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, toilet replacement at the Echo Amphitheater at Carson National Forest, water delivery system rehabilitation at Camas National Wildlife Refuge, and parkway repair at Colonial National Historical Park. Or you can personalize this point with the projects from your state with these state fact sheets.
The successes of the Legacy Restoration Fund are far-reaching, stretching from Acadia to Glacier Bay, and covering a wide range of projects from crumbling roads and trails to aging campgrounds and visitor centers. And it’s clear that local communities across the c ountry have and will continue to see the benefits of investing in the maintenance of our public lands.
Across all federal land management agencies, Legacy Restoration Fund projects support an estimated 20,000 jobs annually and are contributing more than $10 billion to the economy over five years. These economic benefits are on top of the robust economic benefits from visitor tourism. In 2024 there were nearly 223 million visits to national parks, a record-breaking number. National parks generate over $55 billion to the national economy and support 415,000 jobs in gateway communities.
Despite the progress the Legacy Restoration Fund has enabled, the challenge persists, and the backlog of repair needs continues to grow. We applaud our bipartisan champions for reintroducing the extension bills and encourage you to support the final bill.
The Senate is working to schedule a vote by the full Senate on the America the Beautiful Act, S. 1547, this week. The sign on letter is still open and there is time to add your organization to the letter. You can do that with this Google doc or by letting me know. I am attaching below the letter with the list of organizations that have signed as of 9 am today.
The strategy going forward is that the House Natural Resources Committee leadership, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) are negotiating with the Senate on a few tweaks to the America the Beautiful Act in hopes that once the Senate passes the measure, the House Natural Resources Committee can move that bill forward. Congressional champions are still working toward a July 1 deadline to send the final bill to the President. Attached below is an E&E Daily article with background on the bills and the push forward.
Good Reads
Visit Scotland decided to give Boston a small taste of Scotland while the national team played in the city. They wrapped 11 cabs with the tartan worn by the Scottish soccer team and printed on the doors, “Next stop Scotland? Search Visit Scotland.” And the cabs can accessorized with free Scottish snacks. Boston has been a great example of how with creativity and flexibility local tourism offices are jumping to the opportunities to promote travel to their community. 7 News Boston has details on the campaign and photos of the cabs.
Today’s New York Times has an article on The Dispute Over Events for America’s 250th Birthday, Explained. I sent an article on this on Friday, but this article includes information on what the states are doing, which makes this a worthwhile read.
In a unique celebration of America’s 250th, Arkansas is hosting its inaugural Arkansas Folklife Festival to “weave together culture, community and connection across the Natural State” June 26-28 in North Little Rock. Headliners include Lucinda Williams and Bobby Rush. More details are available here.
Great story in today’s New York Times on how one woman in Presque Isle, Maine organized a year of events to celebrate America 250 in The Small City Taking A Maximalist Approach to America’s 250th.
6 News is reporting that Pigeon Forge to honor ‘military hometown heroes’ with banners for America 250. With the grant from the Tennessee America 250 Commission, Pigeon Forge has launched the “Hometown Hero Patriot Banner Program” that will place approximately 42 street banners, each measuring 30” x 60”, that feature hometown heroes. The banners are designed to include a photo of a veteran or service member, along with their name and military service branch. The banners will be displayed July 1 through Veterans Day.
In an effort to make tourism spending easier to track and defend, Axios NW Arkansas reports, Experience Fayetteville opens its tourism playbook. Note that the strategies of Little Rock, Bentonville, Rogers and Springdale are also mentioned.
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