GAOA LRF Program Impacts

GAOA LRF: A Legacy in Progress

Through the Great American Outdoors Act National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (GAOA LRF), the Department of the Interior (Interior) invests in assets and infrastructure so visitors, volunteers, and employees can safely enjoy them for years to come. GAOA LRF is a generational investment that maintains and restores assets at national parks, public lands, National Wildlife Refuges, and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools. With increasing visitation to public lands and tens of thousands of aging assets, funding to maintain the infrastructure that visitors, volunteers, and employees rely on to access and enjoy public lands is more important than ever.  

Check out the Program Impact Fact Sheet to learn more about the GAOA LRF program’s impact through the first three years of funding. 

Read below to learn more about how we are working to achieve GAOA LRF's four strategic goals.

 

Maximize Return on Investment and Citizens Served


A paved path with concrete pads leading to waysides signs lead out to a hill edge overlooking the Hudson River Valley with rolling hills in the background.
Completed accessible path at Saratoga National Historical Park. Photo Credit: NPS/Kristin Vinduska

 

Maximizing Return on Investment and Citizens Served: GAOA LRF projects are critical to restoring high visitation facilities, expanding recreation opportunities, and keeping sites open, safe, and accessible for all visitors. Interior bureaus maintain assets and infrastructure that visitors rely on every time they visit national parks and public lands, such as trails, roads, visitor centers, lodging, and more. However, damaged and aging assets or unsafe site conditions can impact visitors’ ability to access and enjoy public lands. The GAOA LRF funds critical repairs to the assets and infrastructure that are essential to a safe and enjoyable visit. GAOA LRF-funded improvements also allow visitors to connect more deeply with many of the nation’s most important natural and cultural resources. Projects allow more visitors to experience our public lands by expanding accessibility in alignment with the American with Disabilities Act; preserving iconic American places like national monuments, historic sites, and battlefields through historic restoration work; increasing opportunities for recreational hunting and fishing; and keeping sites open to the public.

 

Improving Interior's Financial Health


Rocky land scape next to white water river with construction vehicles in the grassy background.
In-progress construction replacing the steel girder Yellowstone River Bridge. Photo Credit: Dan Rhodes

 

Improving Interior’s Financial Health:  GAOA LRF helps the Department of Interior manage its asset portfolio. GAOA LRF saves Interior both time and money – rather than completing large infrastructure projects piece-by-piece as funding becomes available, GAOA LRF has enabled Interior bureaus to complete large asset improvement projects all at once, helping to limit overhead and reduce the overall cost of construction. In alignment with Interior’s Asset Management Vision, GAOA LRF is providing funding for critical repairs to assets extending asset life, keeping assets in good condition and reducing long-term costs. Some GAOA LRF projects are also demolishing assets, reducing time and labor spent on upkeep and returning landscapes to their natural states.  

 

Protecting Those We Serve


Newly renovated Jack F. Wilson building lobby
Modernized staff facility at the National Interagency Fire Center. Photo Credit: BLM Carrie Bilbao, BLM

 

Protecting Those We Serve: GAOA LRF investments are addressing safety issues, protecting employees, and helping improve retention for bureau staff, volunteers, and Bureau of Indian Education teachers. GAOA LRF projects provide safe working conditions for our employees by repairing and maintaining staff housing, improving office facilities, and removing health and safety concerns. Project work also repairs infrastructure essential to safe operating conditions for emergency responders, including administrative roads, telecommunications infrastructure, and fire stations. Improving assets on our public lands is critical to our ability to retain staff and allow them to focus on the mission critical work at sites and BIE-funded schools across the country. GAOA LRF funding also provides workforce training for Youth Corps and Maintenance Action Team members, helping to train the next generation of stewards of our public lands.

 

Planning for the Future


Three construction workers line a dirt trench with black tarp.
Construction team lines a water delivery ditch at Camas National Wildlife Refuge. Photo Credit: Brian Wehausen / USFWS

 

Planning for the Future: GAOA LRF projects invest in our nation’s infrastructure and help ensure that assets on public lands can be enjoyed long into the future. Through GAOA LRF funding, projects help repair, restore, and replace aging infrastructure and assets that are overdue for maintenance or have exceeded their intended lifecycles. Many projects are modernizing backbone infrastructure, reducing Interior’s environmental impact, and extending the lifespans of assets by replacing outdated systems with energy-efficient infrastructure, such as modern HVAC, electric, lighting, and water systems. GAOA LRF projects are also strengthening our public lands against future climate events by reducing erosion, stabilizing shorelines, preventing floods, and repairing wastewater and drinking water systems.