House to Enact Major Land and Water Conservation Law

WASHINGTON – The House today is scheduled to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, which will permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund—a move NRDC has long advocated. The Senate overwhelmingly passed a companion bill in June, and President Trump indicated on Twitter that he would sign it into law.

The following is a statement from Kabir Green, Director of Federal Affairs at NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council):

“This is a bright spot for the country at a very difficult time.  It’s an investment in jobs that will protect and maintain our public lands and waters—something that is all the more urgent as communities everywhere experience continuing fallout from the climate crisis. Supporting wildlife management and investing in our forests enhances biodiversity and will help sequester some of the carbon that fuels climate change.”

The Great American Outdoors Act also establishes a new fund to pay for long-delayed maintenance and repair of trails, bridges, and a range of infrastructure in national parks and other public lands and waters. 

The National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Fund will provide up to $9.5 billion over five years to address priority repairs in national parks and on other public lands.

Since 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been an important source of funds to protect parks, forests, and wildlife refuges from development, and fund recreation areas and other projects across the country. 

For more, see this blog by NRDC's Sharon Buccino, senior director of lands for NRDC. 

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at NRDC.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.​