"We’re preserving our land. We’re making our land better and cleaner and safer," President Donald J. Trump

August 5, 2020 - On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump's White House released a Fact Sheet stating the President is conserving and restoring the majesty of America’s public lands.

PRESERVING AMERICA’S LAND: President Donald J. Trump is taking historic action to invest in America’s national parks and public lands.

• Today, President Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act, which is the single largest investment in America’s national parks and public lands in history.
  • This legislation marks the most significant conservation accomplishment since the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.
• The act renews our national parks and protects local lands, while also serving as a jobs and infrastructure package that will create over 100,000 additional infrastructure-related jobs.
• The legislation will provide $900 million a year in permanent funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and will allocate $9.5 billion over 5 years to restore facilities and infrastructure in our national parks and public lands.
• This legislation won the support of more than 850 conservation groups, as well as 43 sportsmen and sportswomen groups.

• Americans who have turned to our national parks for activities during the pandemic are finding them in need of investment.
  • Estimates place the national deferred maintenance backlog across all public lands at approximately $20 billion.
• The President’s action will help bring much-needed maintenance to our national parks and public lands, which play an important role in America’s economy.
• Last year, over 327 million people visited our national parks, generating more than $41 billion for the American economy.
• America’s outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.2 percent of GDP and 5.2 million jobs in 2017.
• The LWCF and public lands contribute almost $60 billion to the American economy and support 400,000 jobs through recreational activities.
• According to a recent economic analysis, every $1 million invested in the LWCF supports between 16 and 30 jobs.

• Last year, President Trump signed the largest public lands legislation in a decade, designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness.
• President Trump took action to promote active management of forests under Federal supervision to help prevent catastrophic forest fires.
• In March, the President signed legislation improving the funding process for the United States Forest Service and the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) wildfire suppression operations.
• Taken together, DOI has already expanded or proposed to open nearly 4 million acres across the country to expanded hunting and fishing access, ensuring that hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts are able to fully enjoy our Nation’s lands and waters.
  Source: Office of the White House