Maxwell Bernstein | June 19, 2020

The Great American Outdoors Act passed through the Senate with a bipartisan 73-25 vote on Wednesday where it is now heading to the House. 

This bill would double the current spending on The Land and Water Conservation Fund to $900 million a year along with another $1.9 Billion per year on improvements and maintenance of national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and rangelands, according to the Associated Press.  The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a federal program that protects public lands and waters, resulting in the protection of 2.37 million acres of land, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. 

The Great American Outdoors Act is expected to create over 100 thousand jobs which will go toward restoring national parks and repairing forest systems and trails. Supporters of the bill are calling it, “The most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century,” according to the Associated Press.