Great American Outdoors Act 250
Introduced June 10, 2026 · Last action June 24, 2026
Plain English Summary
This bill provides funding and authorization to modernize and maintain five major federal land and conservation agencies: the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Bureau of Indian Education, as part of celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary. The bill does not specify actual dollar amounts, budget allocations, or detailed program changes in the provided text.
Who benefits
National Park Service employees and contractors; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees and contractors; Bureau of Land Management employees and contractors; Forest Service employees and contractors; Bureau of Indian Education employees and contractors; construction and engineering firms performing modernization work; park visitors and outdoor recreation users; tribal nations with schools in the Bureau of Indian Education system; gateway communities adjacent to federal lands dependent on tourism and recreation spending.
Who pays / loses
U.S. taxpayers who fund appropriations for these five agencies; other federal programs that compete for the same budget allocations; private land developers or extractive industries if the bill includes conservation restrictions on federal lands.
Funding & Lobbying Interests
The bill benefits federal agencies and their employees, construction and engineering contractors who perform modernization work, and outdoor recreation and tourism industries. Without the full bill text, specific dollar amounts and appropriations cannot be determined. Conservation organizations, public lands advocacy groups, and tribal education advocates typically support such legislation. Construction contractors, facility maintenance firms, and park concessionaire companies have direct financial interests in securing funding for federal land modernization.
Political Impact
Affected Groups
Approximately 300,000+ federal employees across the five agencies would benefit from modernization and maintenance funding; millions of annual park and public lands visitors; tribal nations operating schools under Bureau of Indian Education authority; gateway communities near national parks and federal lands; construction and skilled trades workers.
Political Subtext
Proponents frame this as necessary infrastructure investment to preserve and enhance America's public lands heritage ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary, addressing deferred maintenance backlogs. Critics may argue that without specific appropriation amounts and timelines in the bill text, this is aspirational rather than binding funding authorization. The bill does not specify whether modernization includes new conservation restrictions or environmental protections, which could attract criticism from extractive industries or support from environmental groups depending on implementation details.
Real-World Stakes
Federal land agencies operate under chronic deferred maintenance backlogs (the National Park Service alone has faced multi-billion-dollar maintenance backlogs documented in GAO reports). Passage would signal congressional intent to fund agency modernization; failure leaves agencies dependent on year-to-year appropriations. The specificity of actual appropriations and spending authority will determine real-world impact — without dollar amounts, implementation depends on separate appropriations bills.
Sponsor
Co-sponsors (250)
RRep. Ezell, Mike [R-MS-4]DRep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4]RDel. Radewagen, Aumua Amata Coleman [R-AS-At Large]DRep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12]RRep. Carey, Mike [R-OH-15]DRep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47]RRep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3]DRep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15]RRep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11]DRep. DeGette, Diana [D-CO-1]RRep. Wittman, Robert J. [R-VA-1]DRep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6]RRep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4]DRep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24]RRep. Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2]DRep. Ansari, Yassamin [D-AZ-3]RRep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8]DRescom. Hernández, Pablo Jose [D-PR-At Large]RRep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1]DRep. Correa, J. Luis [D-CA-46]+230 more
Vote Record
No recorded votes.
Campaign Finance — Primary Sponsor
Top contributing industries
Other$356,953
Energy$25,400
Healthcare$4,050
Retail$3,300
Finance$2,000
501(c)(4) disclosure: Contributions from 501(c)(4) "dark money" organizations are not required to be publicly disclosed and are not reflected in the figures above. Data sourced from FEC public disclosure filings.
Community Discussion
Share this bill
Sign in to join the discussion.
No comments yet. Be the first.