Cramer, Daines, King, Warner Introduce the America the Beautiful Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2020, established the National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) and included $1.9 billion over 5 years to address the maintenance backlog across public land agencies, including the National Parks Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and others.

Since the passage of the GAOA, North Dakota projects in Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) and the Dakota Prairie Grassland received significant funding to complete restoration and expansion projects. In TRNP, the South Loop Road is slated to reopen next summer as a result of $47 million to repair the washed-out sections and will have expanded walkways, seating, and wayside exhibits, as well as repaved roadside pull-outs. Cramer visited TRNP in August to view the construction progress on the loop. The Dakota Prairie Grasslands, located near TRNP, has received multiple awards to maintain campgrounds, update the Maah Daah Hey trailhead, and resurface and repair roadways with funding from the GAOA. Additional projects in North Dakota include trail maintenance on the National North Country Scenic Trail.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, joined U.S. Senators Steve Daines (R-MT), Angus King (I-ME), and Mark Warner (D-VA) in introducing the America the Beautiful Act. Specifically, the bill will reauthorize the LRF and provide $2 billion for maintenance projects.

"The Great American Outdoors Act brought real results to North Dakota's outdoor recreation opportunities," said Cramer. "Visitors to Theodore Roosevelt National Park will be able to travel the South Loop road, which washed out several years ago, and recreationists can enjoy the updated trails and campsites in the nearby grasslands. Let's keep this momentum going by passing the America the Beautiful Act, so we maintain our national treasures."

"Our country is home to incredible national parks and public lands- that's what makes us America the Beautiful," said Daines. "I'll always fight to protect our parks and work to make sure we're managing our public lands as efficiently as possible. The 'America the Beautiful Act' is a significant step forward in addressing the long overdue maintenance backlog on our public lands and will help us keep Montana the last Best Place."

"People travel from every corner of the world to connect with America's incredible natural beauty and to make memories that last a lifetime," said King. "However, deferred repairs on aging infrastructure like roads and trails can become unsafe for visitors and diminish the quality of our public lands and National Parks. The bipartisan America the Beautiful Act protects our lands and the visitor experience - by addressing maintenance backlogs and reauthorizing the historic Legacy Restoration Fund. This legislation is an important step forward in establishing lasting protections for our public lands, and serves as a proud reminder that stewardship is not a partisan issue."

"The passage of our Great American Outdoors Act was transformative for America's national public lands and the many communities whose economies depend on them," said Warner. "I'm proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund and continue addressing the maintenance backlog at our national parks. Investing in our natural treasures is a no-brainer for our tourism economy and for future generations of Americans."

The America the Beautiful Act also:

• Prioritizes projects that have a 15 percent match from stakeholders
• Requires agencies to have a two-year running list of projects
• Allows the agencies to move forward with next year's projects under a Continuing Resolution
• Ensures that all lands administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service are eligible
• Bolsters the ability for public donations to the fund by requiring agencies to run public awareness campaigns and make known the ability to donate
• Requires the agencies to assess and dispose of unneeded constructed assets
• Requires additional reporting to Congress on actions taken by the agency to reduce its Deferred Maintenance backlogs.

October 2019

August 2024

Click here for bill text.

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