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

The National Parks of Boston will begin the more than $30 million restoration of Dorchester Heights Monument on September 15. Funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), rehabilitation work will be complete prior to March 17, 2026, Evacuation Day, during the nation’s 250th birthday year. The Monument and its surrounding area will remain closed to the public during the restoration.

On a warm, early-September morning on the coast of Rhode Island, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Martha Williams took in the view of Second Beach and the Atlantic Ocean. She was standing on a new, ADA-accessible platform made possible by a team of Service maintenance professionals from around the country funded by the Great American Outdoors Act . It’s one of nearly 100 such projects completed in the three years since the act passed. 

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today visited three sites across New Mexico to highlight how federal investments are helping improve infrastructure on public lands, invest in local economies, and ensure that public lands are ready to meet the challenges of climate change. During her visits to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro Nature Area, and Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Secretary Haaland highlighted how the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) and other federal investments are investing millions of dollars towards infrastructure projects to ensure that visitors can continue to enjoy our public lands for generations to come.

The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund is providing $112.76 million to the National Park Service for a contract to rehabilitate the failing seawalls around a portion of the Tidal Basin and along the Potomac River through West Potomac Park.

As the National Park Service (NPS) celebrates its 107th birthday, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz traveled to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee today to highlight investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). During her visit, Assistant Secretary Estenoz also underscored the role of America’s national parks as significant drivers of national and local economies and job sustainability. These historic investments are enabling the Department of the Interior to deploy unprecedented funding to address overdue maintenance and repairs and meet critical ecosystem resilience, restoration and environmental planning needs.

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau and Senior Advisor to the President and White House Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator Mitch Landrieu were in Alaska this week to highlight how historic resources from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are supporting Tribal communities impacted by climate change and advancing co-stewardship and salmon conservation across the Yukon, Kuskokwim and Norton Sound Region.

In 2022, Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge completed a habitat restoration project that improved the water delivery infrastructure and removed the old and leaking levy and water structures and removed invasive species . Some of the funding for this successful project came from the Great American Outdoor Act, which is part of the Biden administration’s America the Beautiful initiative, a decade-long campaign to conserve, connect and restore 30% of our country’s lands and waters by 2030. Locally led and voluntary conservation work across public, private, and Tribal lands and waters are helping reduce maintenance backlogs and to ensure visitors are safe and comfortable on public lands.

A team of four young people with local ties are gaining valuable experience working on historic preservation projects in the park. They are currently restoring the historic 1875 fence surrounding the Armory and will be completing various projects through December.  The youth are members of the Student Conservation Association and part of a Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund Maintenance Action Team (MAT). 

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland traveled to Yosemite National Park this weekend as part of a month-long tour to celebrate the historic investments from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), a bipartisan investment that improves visitor experiences, bolsters climate resilience and invests in the economy by creating good-paying jobs in our national parks, wildlife refuges, recreation areas and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools. Throughout the month of August, Interior Department leaders will span throughout the nation to highlight how these investments are addressing long-deferred maintenance projects.

Two major park monuments, the Bridge Monument and the Grady Monument, were recently stabilized and restored with funding provided by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). August 4, 2023, is the third anniversary of the historic legislation that is funding infrastructure improvements in national parks throughout the country.