New legislation has just been introduced in Congress calling for extensive new funding for road repairs and the upgrading of buildings that are a part of the National Park Service network.
As written, the Great American Outdoors Act 250 will provide just under $2 billion for the next five years to modernize recreation infrastructure in the nation’s parks, while also moving to complete a long list of what are referenced as “high-priority deferred maintenance projects.”
The legislation, as introduced by Arkansas Republican Bruce Westerman and California Democrat Jared Huffman, will also underwrite projects designed to update outdated drinking and wastewater systems.
In a statement, Westerman, who is also the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said the legislation, if approved in both houses of Congress, will “revitalize the economies of rural gateway communities that depend on public lands and tourism, and create new recreation opportunities for American families to enjoy.”
The bill extends the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act which has, to date, provided funding for more than 600 high-priority repair projects within the Park Service system.
Those projects have included the restoration of walkways at the site of the Statue of Liberty in New York; a new water system at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Azo, Arizona; and general campground upgrading in both the Yosemite National Park in eastern California and the Rocky Mountain National Park, some 55 miles to the northwest of Denver.
Introduction of the legislation has won the praise of the National Parks Conservation Association, which noted in a statement that “as visitation continues to surge, so do repair needs.”
Continued Tiernan Sittenfeld, chief executive officer of the association, “Trails, bridges, roads, campgrounds, visitor centers, and the systems that keep parks running have long been falling into disrepair.”
Other groups supporting the legislation include the American Outdoors Association, American Battlefield Trust, the National Audubon Society, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
The full House is expected to review and vote on the Great American Outdoors Act within the next two weeks.
June 11, 2026
By Garry Boulard
