Bill to fund LWCF, address maintenance backlog, becomes law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 4, 2020 – Today, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump. This bipartisan legislation will improve our public lands, stabilize funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and provide economic relief to help kickstart the economy. The historic conservation bill cleared the U.S. House of Representatives in July after passing the U.S. Senate in June.

This legislation will create a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the growing maintenance backlog on federal public lands. Half the revenue from energy development on public lands would be allocated to the fund and distributed to the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Education to cover overdue maintenance costs.

The Great American Outdoors Act will fully and permanently fund the LWCF at $900 million annually, ensuring all funding is directed to its intended purpose of state and federal conservation projects.

“The truly bipartisan nature of this bill is commendable, and the President’s signature today puts the finishing touches on what will go down as one of the great conservation achievements of our lifetime," said DU CEO Adam Putnam. “Now that it’s the law of the land, we look forward to working with our partners at federal and state agencies, and in the conservation community, to help deliver this law’s ambitious promises to improve the American landscape for generations to come.”

These new investments will boost America’s outdoor recreation industry, which generates $887 billion annually and supports 7.6 million American jobs.

For more information, visit www.ducks.org, and be sure to Follow DU’s newest Twitter feed – @DUNews1937 – to get the most up-to-date news from Ducks Unlimited.

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved almost 15 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org.