Today, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law. This landmark legislation protects our cherished public lands for the long haul by securing full permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and investing billions of dollars to fund long-overdue maintenance projects on public lands across the country.
The Great American Outdoors Act secures full LWCF funding. This $900 million per year is not from taxpayers, but rather from offshore oil and gas royalties. Corporate entities that have benefited from the wealth of our lands will now bear the cost of preserving them.
The Great American Outdoors Act is a boon for the economy as well as the environment. Outdoor recreation in the U.S. is an $887 billion industry that supports millions of jobs throughout the country, including 200,000 in Washington state. By funding billions of dollars in backlogged maintenance projects, this legislation will bring an estimated $250 million to Washington State in the next five years alone.
Thanks to the Great American Outdoors Act, we will have the resources to maintain and conserve places like Mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National Park for years to come — all while supporting a vital sector of the economy and providing local jobs that can’t be outsourced.
Excerpted from a Senator Maria Cantwell email