President Trump has signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act, a landmark bill U.S. Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri says he helped introduce.
The legislation is designed to give the national park system billions of dollars over five years to reduce a maintenance backlog. It provides $900 million annually in oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which protects historical and environmentally-significant sites. The measure will help the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others.
Sen. Blunt says, “The Great American Outdoors Act is one of the most important packages of conservation legislation we’ve seen in decades.” He says, “This bipartisan bill will support significant improvements to Missouri’s rich array of public lands and national parks, which will enhance the visitor experience and boost the tourism and recreation industries. The bill also provides permanent funding for the Land and Wildlife Conservation Fund, which protects historical and environmentally-significant sites. In our state, the LWCF has historically benefited the Mark Twain National Forest, the Ozark National Scenic River, the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, and Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. As an original cosponsor of this bill, I’m glad Congress and the Trump administration were able to come together to get this landmark legislation signed into law.”
The bipartisan plan is also reportedly expected to create an additional 100,000 direct and indirect jobs.
It has been heralded as the most significant conservation bill in a generation, Blunt says.
“The park system, as we now know it, is a little more than a hundred years old. Some of these maintenance issues are decades old, maybe 50 years old, maybe half of the life of the entire park service,” Blunt says on the U.S. Senate floor.
Blunt, who co-sponsored the plan, says the funding will help to bolster Missouri’s outdoor recreation industry.
He says the Outdoor Recreation Industry Association advises almost $15 billion is generated in Missouri in consumer spending and about 133,000 jobs are created across the state in outdoor recreation. “This is obviously not a normal year. So, anything we can do to encourage people to use these facilities in a better way is important,” says Blunt.
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