Lawmaker urges reauthorization of Legacy Restoration Fund, calls for more staffing and appropriations

A lawmaker told the Agriculture and Natural Resources Commission that the committee would vote to reauthorize the Legacy Restoration Fund, calling the program one of Congress’s most successful investments in the National Park System.

The speaker said the Fund "has invested nearly $6 billion in 400 projects across all 50 states and five US territories," and described the original package as part of the Great American Outdoors Act, passed in 2020. "When Congress took that historic step...it was a bipartisan promise to restore our national parks by addressing the deferred maintenance backlog on our public lands," the lawmaker said.

The lawmaker listed typical projects financed by the Fund — visitor centers, wastewater treatment facilities, trails, campgrounds, roads and transmission lines — and said those investments "improve visitor experiences" and "make our parks safer." The speaker framed maintenance work as the "connective tissue" that lets parks operate and stressed that reauthorization is only one step: Congress must follow up with measures that increase annual appropriations for maintenance and construction, the lawmaker said.

The speaker also raised staffing concerns, saying land management agencies have "experienced a devastating loss of staff" and that park rangers and other public servants must be supported if the parks are to be properly maintained and run. The lawmaker tied those staffing needs to the broader goals of preserving parks and preparing for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The speaker described the legislation as a "work in progress" and said lawmakers were close to a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a final bill. The committee was told it would vote on the bipartisan reauthorization measure during the markup; the transcript does not record the vote outcome.

The lawmaker closed by thanking the chairman and committee staff on both sides of the aisle and urged continued cross-aisle work to finish the remaining steps needed to fully fund and staff the park system.