Congress: extend Great American Outdoor Act’s national park maintenance fund

Urge Congress to extend The Great American Outdoors Act’s (GAOA’s)  national park maintenance fund by providing at least five more years of needed investment to fix our parks.

This summer is the perfect time to highlight GAOA’s maintenance fund, the Legacy Restoration Fund, which has addressed billions of dollars in repair needs at parks in nearly every state. These projects include fixing damaged trails at Mammoth Cave National Park, replacing a failing water system at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, rehabilitating staff housing at Glacier Bay and Great Sand Dunes National Parks, and enhancing campgrounds at Yosemite, Rocky Mountain, and Mount Rainier National parks.

Hundreds more projects are underway addressing overdue park maintenance projects and greatly improving visitor experiences.

But additional resources are needed to continue to address the backlog of repair needs. Thousands of projects, both big and small, are in need of funding. The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated.

It’s clear that our parks need more help to protect the natural and cultural resources that tell our nation’s history and ensure parks can continue to welcome millions of visitors each year. Urge Congress to keep investing more in our parks.

This message will be sent to Congress:

{contact_data~title} {contact_data~firstName} {contact_data~lastName} {contact_data~suffix},

In celebration of Great Outdoors Month, I’m reaching out to share some wonderful progress that has been made at our national parks, as well as the ongoing maintenance and repair challenges our parks face.

Nearly four years ago, Congress came together with huge bipartisan support to prioritize our national parks with the passage of the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). The GAOA established the Legacy Restoration Fund and this dedicated funding is conserving parks and other public lands across the country and addressing hundreds of overdue maintenance projects in national parks. It is greatly improving visitor experiences for the millions of people, including constituents like me, who travel to these treasured places every year. 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 country have and will continue to see the benefits of investing in our national parks. You can see what projects here.

Through 2025, GAOA will continue to address critical repair projects and improve visitor experiences in our parks. But after decades of inadequate investments, much of the infrastructure is now over 50 years old and more funding is needed to continue the work. Parks are more popular than ever before, but infrastructure needs continue to impact visitor access and safety and threaten park resources.

I call on you as my member of Congress to do everything you can to extend the maintenance fund in this important law by providing at least five more years of funding to fix our parks and keep this successful effort going. I believe that national parks can continue to unify our nation and Congress.

Thank you for considering my views.

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Congress: extend Great American Outdoor Act’s national park maintenance fund

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