Great American Outdoors Act National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund Newsroom

The Bureau of Land Management’s Safford Field Office is planning work funded through the Great American Outdoors Act to repair and upgrade recreation facilities and roads in the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area, near Safford. Work will begin on January 2 and will take approximately six months to complete.

The historic Palmer-Epard Cabin in Homestead National Historical Park is once again open to visitors following an approximately $180,000 restoration project funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund. Visitors to the small cabin are transported back to the 1860s and given a glimpse into the world of courageous homesteaders in search of a better life.

A significant restoration project was recently completed on the historic Gibson Cabin in St. Croix National Scenic Riverway with funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund. Built in 1925 and used by four generations of the Gibson Family, the primitive cabin is a vital link to the park's past.

Funding through the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund (GAOA LRF) was utilized for rehabilitation project of Ice Age National Scenic Trail office and garage. The Maintenance Action Team (MAT) work crew meticulously repaired broken doors, replaced siding, repaired trim, painted, stained, and tuck pointed the exterior of the office and garage.

The GAOA provided $9.5 billion over five years to address a maintenance backlog at American national parks and other public lands. This was great news for Fort Vancouver NHS, which secured $15.2 million of that funding to renovate Building 993, one of Vancouver Barracks’ three large double infantry barracks. GAOA funds turned the 33,000 square foot building into safe, accessible, and energy-efficient office space ready for lease in 2024.

The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund financed critical preservation work on the roof and gutter system on the Historic Cabin at the Historic Area at Jewel Cave National Monument. The work was performed by a GAOA funded Maintenance Action Team (MAT) composed of skilled craftspeople from the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC).

On Wednesday, December 4, Bureau of Indian Education Director Tony Dearman joined a celebration to break ground on a campus modernization project at Many Farms High School funded by the Great American Outdoors Act National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund.

A GAOA LRF funded Maintenance Action Team (MAT) is providing repairs at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge to restore one mile of stream, create two off-channel wetlands, replace dilapidated control structures, and replace the fish passage barrier with a bridge. At the end of the project, they will have restored 201 acres of marsh and stream habitat, including improved fish passage.

Two major Mount Rainier National Park construction projects starting in 2025 will replace decades-old crumbling infrastructure in the park’s popular Ohanapecosh Campground and improve travel through the park on State Route 123. The Ohanapecosh Campground project is partly funded through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), Recreation Fee revenue and the National Park Foundation.

The Texas White House, home of 36th President Lyndon Johnson, First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, and their family, is being rehabilitated with funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). The $14 million project will address maintenance/repair work, structural concerns, and deterioration of historic features in the house and the surrounding site.