This page contains frequently asked questions about the U.S. Department of Interior’s (Interior) Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) Program, which funds high priority deferred maintenance and repair (DM&R) projects across the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Park Service (NPS).

GAOA LRF Overview

What is the GAOA LRF? 

The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) established the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) and fully funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). GAOA LRF authorizes up to $1.9 billion annually in fiscal years 2021–2025 to address priority DM&R projects at four Interior bureaus (BIE, BLM, FWS, and NPS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS). GAOA also permanently funds LWCF with $900 million annually.

When was GAOA signed into law?

GAOA was signed into law on August 4th, 2020. Interior developed the initial list of GAOA LRF projects for the first year of funding in November 2020 and received Congressional authorization to proceed in March 2021. 

Visit our About page to learn more about the GAOA LRF legislation.

Where does GAOA LRF funding come from?

GAOA LRF funding is derived from 50 percent of all energy development revenues due and payable to the United States from oil, gas, coal, or alternative/renewable energy development on public lands and water from the previous fiscal year, up to $1.9 billion a year.   

The GAOA legislation also authorizes the LRF program to invest program cash that is not required to meet current program needs. Through these investments, GAOA LRF has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in interest revenue that Interior bureaus and U.S. Forest Service can utilize to support LRF projects. 

What government agencies and bureaus receive funding from GAOA LRF?

GAOA LRF authorizes up to $1.9 billion annually in FY21-25, allocated as follows:

• NPS: 70%, or up to $1.33 billion
• FWS: 5%, or up to $95 million
• BLM: 5%, or up to $95 million
• BIE: 5%, or up to $95 million
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service: 15%, or up to $285 million.

Bureaus receive additional funding above these amounts from returns made on LRF investments in U.S. Department of the Treasury securities and/or donations.  

When will GAOA LRF funding run out?

The GAOA legislation funded LRF through fiscal year 2025; however, due to the scale and complexity of these construction projects, work on many GAOA LRF-funded projects will continue for several years beyond 2025. While GAOA LRF funding will not address all DM&R needs at Interior, it is making a significant impact by improving the condition of thousands of priority assets to help ensure visitors, staff, students, and volunteers enjoy safe access to national parks, public lands and roads, national wildlife refuges, and BIE-funded schools.

What is DM&R?  

Deferred maintenance and repair (DM&R) is defined by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board as a maintenance and repair activity that was not performed when it should have been or was scheduled to be performed but was delayed to a future period. Interior annually reports point-in-time asset DM&R estimates to the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) system.  

Visit our Deferred Maintenance & Repair page to learn more. 

GAOA LRF Program Impacts

How does GAOA LRF benefit national parks, national wildlife refuges, public lands, and tribal communities?

Through fiscal year 2025, LRF funded 396 projects at Interior with work completed or ongoing in every state, Washington D.C., and multiple U.S. territories. GAOA LRF allows Interior to restore or replace assets that have deteriorated or exceeded their intended useful life cycle. With an average project size of $17.5 million, the GAOA LRF helps Interior tackle major projects that would normally be too large to fund in a single year. This approach makes construction more efficient and saves taxpayer dollars.

These investments have a significant and lasting impact on Interior’s ability to deliver its mission by: 

• Increasing access to outdoor recreation
• Improving safety for visitors, volunteers, students, and employees
• Improving accessibility
• Restoring historical and cultural landmarks
• Supporting wildlife populations and natural resources
• Improving visitor education assets
• Investing in public land stewards
• Providing a positive and safe educational environment

Learn more about GAOA LRF-funded projects on our Project Data page.

What are the economic impacts of GAOA LRF funding?

GAOA LRF has been an important economic engine for local communities and industries within the United States, providing job opportunities, supporting local businesses, and delivering on economic growth. The first five years of Interior’s GAOA LRF projects support approximately 17,000 jobs and contribute an average of $1.9 billion to the Nation’s economy with each year of funding.

More information about the program’s economic contributions can be found on Interior’s Office of Policy Analysis page.

What progress has been made on GAOA LRF projects to date?  

As projects are completed across the country, Interior and the public are beginning to experience the benefits of the GAOA LRF investments. As of September 2025, Interior bureaus have obligated over $4.2 billion of the total program funding and 113 GAOA LRF projects have completed construction activities. Project improvements to date include replaced bridges, repaired roads, newly constructed visitor centers and administrative facilities, restored historic monuments and landmarks, and enhanced water and utility systems. 

Visit our GAOA LRF Projects in Action page to learn more. 

How are projects selected?

Each year, the GAOA LRF bureaus proposed DM&R projects via the President’s Budget that best met the GAOA LRF project goals: 1) Maximize Citizens Served, 2) Improve Financial Health, 3) Protect Those We Serve, and 4) Plan for the Future. Bureaus also considered additional factors based on annual guidance. In addition to these program-wide goals, each bureau established its own step-down, mission-focused criteria and internal guidelines for GAOA LRF project selection. Once identified, the proposed projects go through many layers of review before proposal in the President’s Budget.

What are Maintenance Action Teams?

Maintenance Action Teams (MATs) are teams of in-house NPS and FWS staff who can mobilize to perform smaller, but still critical, DM&R activities at national parks and national wildlife refuges across the country. These teams are trained in a variety of trades, including heavy equipment operation, electrical, plumbing, carpentry, masonry, and historic preservation.

MATs also teach valuable maintenance and repair skills to a new generation of tradespeople and public land stewards, serving as a valuable training ground for teams to build knowledge, skill, and expertise in maintenance activities. As of June 2025, MATs have completed project work at more than 200 unique public lands sites. 

Learn more on our Maintenance Action Team page.

Improving Real Property Assets

What is the scale of Interior’s asset portfolio?  

Interior manages 20 percent of the Nation’s lands and waters, encompassing national parks, national wildlife refuges, and public lands. This portfolio includes the management of the physical assets, or infrastructure, on these lands and waters. Within this portfolio, BIE, BLM, FWS, and NPS collectively manage over 127,000 real property assets that range from visitor centers, trails, campgrounds, roads, bridges, parking lots, water and wastewater treatment facilities, communication systems, schools, and much more. 

Learn more about Interior’s asset portfolio on our Improving Real Property Assets to Support Interior’s Mission page.

How is GAOA LRF improving Interior’s assets?

GAOA LRF funding is repairing and modernizing nearly 4,000 of Interior’s real property assets, or 3 percent of BIE, BLM, FWS, and NPS’s combined asset portfolios. GAOA LRF is also helping Interior shift to a strategic management approach aligned with Interior’s Asset Management Vision, which emphasizes making lowest life cycle cost investments to deliver a right-sized, resilient, and sustainable asset portfolio that keeps assets in good condition for the future.

What types of assets do GAOA LRF projects improve?

GAOA LRF funding supports investments across a diverse set of Interior real property assets that help create a safe and enjoyable experience for visitors, volunteers, students, and employees; protect wildlife and the natural environment; and preserve natural and cultural resources for this and future generations.

The GAOA LRF program divides these real property assets into seven use categories: (1) Recreational and visitor experience assets, such as campgrounds and trails; (2) Housing assets, such as multi-unit employee housing; (3) Transportation assets, such as roads and bridges; (4) Water infrastructure or other utilities, such as drinking water systems or electrical systems; (5) Operational buildings, such as warehouses and offices; (6) BIE schools and associated assets, such as educational buildings; and (7) All other assets.

Why are GAOA LRF investments important to maintaining Interior’s asset portfolio?

Over the years, maintenance and repair needs on public lands have been exacerbated by increased visitation and insufficient resources to perform preventive and recurring maintenance work. This has led to assets’ deterioration, with many large, backbone infrastructure assets reaching or exceeding their intended use life cycles. GAOA LRF investments help Interior to care for these well-worn and well-loved assets. 

Through the restoration of buildings, roads, and other facilities that support Interior’s mission to protect natural resources, preserve cultural heritage, and serve Tribal communities, GAOA LRF funding allows Interior to:

• Improve visitor safety and experience on public lands by repairing and upgrading infrastructure.
• Support Tribal education by replacing unsafe and deteriorating facilities at Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools.
• Manage assets strategically by investing in projects that reduce long-term costs and create a sustainable, well-maintained portfolio in alignment with Interior’s Asset Management Vision.

By addressing critical repairs and modernizing facilities, GAOA LRF ensures that public lands remain welcoming and safe, and that Tribal students have access to positive learning environments.