With the stroke of President Donald Trump’s pen, the biggest land conservation legislation in a generation became law Tuesday morning, prompting widespread praise on a measure that sets a new standard of stewardship for public lands.
The bill, called the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), authorizes billions in funding for two major conservation needs — the National Park Service deferred maintenance backlog and the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The House approved the bill 310-107 on July 22, weeks after it won overwhelming approval in the Senate, and as it headed to the White House President Trump was expected to sign the bill into law during a ceremony Tuesday morning.