Celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act - and looking to the future with the America the Beautiful Act

August 4, 2025 marks the marks the fifth anniversary of the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act. This Act established the Legacy Restoration Fund designed to modernize public lands and shrink decades of deferred maintenance.

As one of the most important investments in public lands in American history, this piece of legislation passed with one of the highest bipartisan votes in both the Senate and the House. Over five short years, this piece of legislation delivered $1.4 billion in infrastructure investments towards National Forests, has supported 70,000 jobs, and contributed over $8 billion to America’s GDP.

This legislation, however, expires September 30, and there is still a backlog of infrastructure needs across all public lands. 

National Forests and Grasslands welcome more than 170 million visitors every year, and as visitation continues to grow, we need to tackle the $10 billion maintenance backlog at the U.S. Forest Service to provide world-class experiences for current and future generations.

We’re thrilled to support the America the Beautiful Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Steve Daines (R-MT) and Angus King (I-ME).

The America the Beautiful Act would extend the Legacy Restoration Fund for seven additional years and deliver $2.8 billion specifically to National Forests to chip away at the backlog across the Forest Service’s 163,000 miles of trails, 372,000 miles of roads, and 30,000 recreation sites including campgrounds, visitor centers, boat launches, trailheads. 

This is a generational investment in America and in our public lands.

Cover photo by U.S. Forest Service.