Great American Outdoors Act National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund Newsroom

In celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), all National Park Service (NPS) entrance fees will be waved on Monday, August 4. GAOA’s National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF) is making a significant impact by funding $6.65 billion in critical maintenance and repair needs in national parks across the country.

As the 5th anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act approaches, residents and staff at Death Valley National Park are thrilled about an upcoming major overhaul of the park’s largest water and wastewater systems. To celebrate the Act’s anniversary, all National Park Service sites will offer free park entrance on Monday, August 4.

Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area will be observing the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Great American Outdoors Act on Monday, August 4, 2025, with 50 percent off backcountry camping permit fees.

On Aug. 4, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) into law, marking a historic moment for outdoor recreation and conservation in the United States. In the five years since its passage, this landmark legislation has provided significant resources for federal land management agencies – including the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Education, and U.S. Forest Service – to improve public lands and waters for the benefit of visitors and local communities nationwide.

Monday, Aug. 4, marks five years since President Donald J. Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law, establishing a generational investment in America’s public lands. This landmark bipartisan legislation funds repairs to critical infrastructure and improves access to national parks, wildlife refuges, recreation areas, and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools.

Yosemite National Park celebrated a major milestone today in meeting its long-term infrastructure sustainability goals with the official groundbreaking for the new El Portal Wastewater Treatment Plant, a transformative $239 million investment funded through the Great American Outdoors Act’s Legacy Restoration Fund, which was signed into law by President Donald J. Trump in 2020.

With funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), the National Park Service plans to fully rehabilitate the Kennedy Supplee Mansion and the surrounding Port Kennedy area. The mansion itself will receive a full exterior and interior rehabilitation, including all new building systems. The associated carriage house will also be rehabilitated. Utilities will be upgraded as necessary. Driveways, parking lots and the surrounding landscape will also be improved.

The National Park Service (NPS) today celebrated the completion of the stabilization project of a historic drylaid stone wall at Mile 11 with funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund. This approximately 1,015 linear foot long wall historically called the “Log Wall” plays a critical role in supporting the towpath and the canal prism and protecting them from the waters of the Potomac River. The rehabilitated historic wall ensures future generations will continue to learn and enjoy the C&O Canal in its historical context.

Through-traffic will be limited on Dry Fork Road in south Phillips County, Montana, July 23 through mid-August, as contractors work to replace two damaged 4-feet-diameter culverts running under the road. The culvert repair project is funded by the Great American Outdoors Act, helping the Bureau of Land Management provide access to public lands and the unique resources they steward.

Yosemite National Park is proud to announce the reopening of the Tuolumne Meadows Campground Aug 1, following the completion of a transformative three-year, $26 million rehabilitation project funded through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). This marks the first time the Tuolumne Meadows Campground has been open since construction began in 2022. The improvements not only revitalize one of the largest campgrounds in the National Park System—with 336, 304 standard and hike-in, 21 backpacker, seven group, and four horse, sites serving up to 2,200 visitors nightly—but also reflect a commitment to preserving natural and cultural resources while enhancing the visitor experience.