Published on: September 05, 2025
Land protected by the Great American Outdoors Act is central to the migration of the pronghorn antelope that are key to Yellowstone's ecosystem. (Adobe Stock)
By Isobel Charle
Members of the House Committee on Natural Resources will visit Grand Teton National Park Friday to discuss reauthorizing and strengthening the Great American Outdoors Act.
The 2020 law provided more than $6.5 billion to national parks over the last five years to make repairs and upgrades. In Montana, that included replacing a 60-year-old bridge, adding new trailhead parking lots and restoring landscapes in Yellowstone National Park.
Emily Douce, deputy vice president of government affairs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the law was originally passed with bipartisan support.
"Our national parks and public lands have a lot of support on both sides of the aisle and so they came together and passed this monumental bill to address the maintenance needs and purchase of lands for the future generations," Douce explained.
Douce pointed out the Legacy Restoration Fund established by the law has enabled over 1,000 projects throughout the country. She added funding must be renewed in order to continue modernizing facilities and strengthening them against extreme weather.
Projects funded by the Great American Outdoors Act support local economies, Douce stressed, by providing job opportunities and boosting tourism, which supports businesses nearby public lands.
"Over 300 million people are enjoying our national parks every year," Douce reported. "They help tell America's stories, whether it's through our historic sites or it's the large landscapes like Yellowstone and Yosemite."
Douce added the Park Service has already lost nearly a quarter of their staff since January to the Trump administration’s sweeping layoffs. She urged Congress to push the administration to lift the hiring freeze and stop any additional layoffs to ensure projects already funded by the law can be completed.
