The Great American Outdoors Act (H.R. 1957) is a piece of legislation passed by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, signed by
President
President most commonly refers to:
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*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
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Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Donald J. Trump, and activated into Public Law (Public Law No. 116-152) in 2020. It has two major components: fully and permanently fund the
Land and Water Conservation Fund
The United States' Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a federal program that was established by Act of Congress in 1965 to provide funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and ...
(LWCF) at $900 million per year, and providing $9.5 billion over five years ($1.9 billion annually) to address a maintenance backlog at
American national parks.
The ''
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' wrote that it would be "the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century."
However, on November 9, 2020, Trump's
Interior Secretary
The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...
David Bernhardt
David Longly Bernhardt (born August 17, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 2019 to 2021 during the presidency of Donald Trump. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the deputy secretary of the interior. Befo ...
implemented a rule which would give local authorities a veto over LWCF acquisitions, which critics said would significantly weaken the impact of the legislation. The Trump administration also proposed significantly fewer projects than the legislation called for. On February 11, 2021, the
Biden administration
Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
reverted the Trump administration's rule.
Legislative history
The bill was first introduced in the House of Representatives by
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
(
D-
GA) as the
Taxpayer First Act of 2019 on March 28, 2019. After inserting amendments, Senator
Cory Gardner
Cory Scott Gardner (born August 22, 1974) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional distr ...
(
R–
CO) reintroduced the bill in the Senate on March 9, 2020, during the
116th United States Congress
The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Januar ...
as the Great American Outdoors Act.
On June 9, it passed a procedural vote 80–17 and moved to full consideration before the Senate.
The bill passed the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
on June 17 by a vote of 73–25. On July 22, the amended bill was passed by the House on a bipartisan vote of 310–107.
Support and opposition
Considered bipartisan in nature for the 116th Congress,
the bill attracted 59 co-sponsors, both Democrats and Republicans.
President Trump expressed a willingness to sign the act after being shown an impressive picture of land within
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is an American national park located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service. There are two primary entrances to the park: the south rim entrance is located east of Montrose, while ...
protected by LWCF funds, despite previously opposing the LWCF.
The LWCF, first established in 1965, had been made permanent by the 2019
John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act but had not been permanently funded at that time.
The measure was supported by conservation organizations such as
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Natu ...
, the
National Wildlife Federation
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (includin ...
, and the
League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is an American environmental advocacy group. LCV says that it "advocates for sound environmental laws and policies, holds elected officials accountable for their votes and actions, and elects pro-environmen ...
,
while some
animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
and mining groups opposed it.
[{{Cite web, last=Henderson, first=Greg, date=June 9, 2020, title=Livestock Groups Oppose Great American Outdoors Act, url=https://www.agweb.com/article/livestock-groups-oppose-great-american-outdoors-act, website=AgWeb, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610175901/https://www.agweb.com/article/livestock-groups-oppose-great-american-outdoors-act, archive-date=June 10, 2020] The ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that some Democrats believed that
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...
, the
Senate Majority Leader
The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...
, only allowed debate on the bill in order to support the 2020 re-election efforts of Gardner and
Steve Daines
Steven David Daines ( ; born August 20, 1962) is an American politician and former corporate executive serving as the junior United States senator for Montana since 2015. A Republican, he served as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large ...
(R–
MT).
Notes
References
Acts of the 116th United States Congress
Nature conservation in the United States
United States federal public land legislation