What Is the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA)?

The Great American Outdoors Act is a federal law signed on August 4, 2020, that did two things: it created a five-year, $9.5 billion fund to repair aging infrastructure on federal lands, and it made annual $900 million funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent. The repair fund ran from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025. The conservation funding continues indefinitely.

The Legacy Restoration Fund

The law’s centerpiece was the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, established under 54 U.S.C. § 200402. For each fiscal year from 2021 through 2025, the fund received 50 percent of federal energy development revenues from oil, gas, coal, and renewable production on federal land and water, capped at $1.9 billion per year.¹ The cap was hit every year, delivering the full $9.5 billion over the five-year period.²

The money was aimed at deferred maintenance, the government’s term for repairs that keep getting pushed back when annual budgets run short. Leaking roofs on historic lodges, washed-out trails, failing water systems, potholed roads. Before this law, those projects competed for scraps in the yearly appropriations fight and often lost. A dedicated fund changed that.

The statute set one important structural rule: at least 65 percent of each agency’s share had to go to non-transportation projects like buildings and utilities, with the rest available for roads, bridges, tunnels, and parking areas.¹ Every funded project also had to line up with an existing deferred maintenance or capital improvement plan.

How the Money Was Divided

The law split the fund among five federal agencies using fixed percentages written into the statute:

National Park Service: 70 percent
U.S. Forest Service: 15 percent
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 5 percent
Bureau of Land Management: 5 percent
Bureau of Indian Education: 5 percent

Agency administrators could not change those shares.¹ Congress could provide an alternate allocation through appropriations, but any alternative still had to be consistent with the statutory percentages. The Park Service got the biggest slice because it carries the biggest backlog and the most visitors. The Bureau of Indian Education share went to school buildings serving Indigenous students, many of them in serious disrepair.

What the Fund Accomplished

Over five fiscal years, Legacy Restoration Fund projects touched more than 3,800 Interior Department assets across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Agencies repaired or improved more than 2,100 miles of roads and trails, upgraded more than 130 drinking water systems, and addressed over 1,020 recreation facilities. Interior estimates the spending contributed an average of $1.9 billion a year to the national economy and supported roughly 17,000 jobs annually.³

Nearly half of the funded projects included components that improved accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Architectural Barriers Act.³ Federal facilities built or renovated with government money must meet accessibility standards under the Architectural Barriers Act, so many older structures needed accessibility upgrades as part of the repair work.⁴

The results are real, and the problem is far from finished. At the end of fiscal year 2025, the National Park Service alone still reported an estimated $24 billion in deferred maintenance across its system.⁵

Where the Restoration Fund Stands in 2026

The five-year authorization ended with fiscal year 2025. No new money is being deposited into the fund for fiscal year 2026 or beyond under current law.² Agencies may still be drawing down previously allocated dollars on projects that are underway but not yet complete, which is why Interior’s tracker continues to show active work.

Two extension efforts are in motion. A bill in the 119th Congress, S. 1547, would reauthorize the fund through fiscal year 2033 and raise the annual cap to $2.0 billion. The President’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal included an extension at $1.9 billion annually for another five years.² Neither is enacted. Without a reauthorization, federal land agencies will go back to competing for maintenance dollars through the regular appropriations process.

Permanent Funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The other half of the law made the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s financing permanent. The LWCF has existed since 1964, but Congress historically had to appropriate money to it each year and rarely provided the full authorized amount. The 2020 law amended 54 U.S.C. § 200303 so that annual deposits into the fund are available for spending without further appropriation.⁶

The income floor is $900 million per year under 54 U.S.C. § 200302(c). Revenue comes from outer continental shelf energy receipts, and if those receipts fall short, the Treasury covers the gap from general funds.⁷ This funding does not expire.

By law, at least 40 percent of LWCF money must go to federal land acquisition, and at least 40 percent must go to grants to states for outdoor recreation.⁸ For fiscal year 2025, Interior proposed $313 million for federal land acquisition, $360.8 million for grant programs, and $8 million for a new tribal land acquisition program.⁹

LWCF Grants for State and Local Projects

The state-assistance side of the LWCF is what shows up in local communities. It funds parks, playgrounds, trails, and recreation areas. State and local governments apply for matching grants that cover up to 50 percent of a project’s cost, with the applicant covering the rest. Eligible projects include acquiring land for public outdoor recreation, building new park facilities, and renovating existing infrastructure.

Local governments do not apply directly to the federal government. They participate as subrecipients through their state. Insular areas such as Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands can receive grants that cover 100 percent of project costs without a local match.

How to See Projects in Your State

The Department of the Interior maintains an interactive project map and searchable table covering all 396 Legacy Restoration Fund projects across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. You can filter by agency, state, project name, project type, or completion status, and download the full dataset. Project statuses were last updated as of December 31, 2025, and budget estimates as of September 30, 2025.¹⁰

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 54 Code 200402 – National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund
2
Congress.gov. The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA): Frequently Asked Questions
3
U.S. Department of the Interior. GAOA LRF by the Numbers
4
U.S. Access Board. Architectural Barriers Act
5
U.S. National Park Service. By the Numbers – Infrastructure
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 54 USC 200303 – Availability of Funds
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 54 USC 200302 – Establishment of Land and Water Conservation Fund
8
Congress.gov. Land and Water Conservation Fund: Overview, Funding History, and Issues
9
U.S. Department of the Interior. Permanent Funding
10
U.S. Department of the Interior. GAOA LRF Project Data