Great American Outdoors Act

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Long post with many links. Another con job by the republicans or incompetents'.

States, land managers still waiting for details on conservation funding under Great American Outdoors Act
https://coloradosun.com/2020/11/13/land-and-water-conservation-funding-great-american-outdoors-act/

Was the Great American Outdoors Act Just a Campaign Ploy?

https://www.insidehook.com/daily_brief/politics/great-american-outdoors-act-campaign-ploy


New Interior order undermines conservation bill Trump campaigned on, critics say

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/525893-new-interior-order-undermines-conservation-bill-trump-campaigned-on

Interior Department withholds project list for LWCF funding

https://missoulacurrent.com/outdoors/2020/11/interior-department-lwcf/


Empty promises will plague our public lands

https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/opinions/guest_columnists/empty-promises-will-plague-our-public-lands/article_a14e424e-8722-5879-89d4-22a659d639c7.html


Gardner’s public lands bill is in trouble after missing key deadline last week

https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/gardner-s-public-lands-bill-is-in-trouble-after-missing-key-deadline-last-week/article_65eb053a-bfae-57fd-b806-7a10e59

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1. The Trump administration has already neutered the Great American Outdoors Act

Well, that didn't take long.

Public lands advocates cheered this summer when the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which guarantees permanent financial support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), was passed. Now, just a few months later, a top official in the Trump administration is attempting to undercut that achievement by saddling the law with potentially ruinous restrictions.

U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt issued an order late last week that grants states veto power over the use of LWCF funds within their borders. The order also redirects control of LWCF funds away from Congress and grants them to the president. This sudden about-face comes on the heels of another disappointing development: the DOI's failure to file a list of LWCF projects for 2021 by the deadline established in the GAOA.

https://www.snewsnet.com/news/trump-administration-undercuts-great-american-outdoors-act

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2. Vermont Congressman Discusses Economic Stability Of Outdoor Recreation Industry

The Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance recently held its annual membership meeting. The virtual session featured comments from the state’s at-large Congressman who talked about federal pandemic support and the recently passed Great American Outdoors Act.

The Outdoor Business Alliance is a group of 70 businesses and organizations representing outdoor recreation businesses across Vermont. An October report the group submitted to the Governor’s office notes that in May most businesses in the sector “...had experienced full or partial closure, significant losses in revenue, increased costs due to precautionary measures, and shifts in workforce, supply chain and operations.” Even with those difficulties amid the pandemic the report adds: “Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy enters fall in a much stronger financial position.”

During their November meeting, Democratic Congressman Peter Welch told the alliance he is getting through the pandemic by enjoying Vermont’s outdoor opportunities and understands the industry has made enormous adjustments under immense financial pressure. “One of the things that is accessible and available to all of us is being outdoors and doing things outdoors. And there’s so many different kinds of activities and then, oh by the way, there’s real economic benefits to the work that you do. In Vermont I understand from the last audit that we had it was about 20,000 jobs and about $1.7 Billion. And the need for us to be able to spend more time outdoors is greater now than ever compared with pre-COVID.”

https://www.wamc.org/post/vermont-congressman-discusses-economic-stability-outdoor-recreation-industry

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3. Backcountry Hunters and Anglers questions Trump Administration announcement of restrictions on LWCF

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration announced today new restrictions and requirements on Land and Water Conservation Fund implementation, including bipartisan language passed overwhelmingly by Congress in the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act and the Great American Outdoors Act, drawing strong criticism from sportsmen and women.

The secretarial order from Interior Secretary David Bernhardt adds a litany of new rules governing deployment of LWCF funds, including eliminating outright funds for projects enabling land acquisition by the Bureau of Land Management and infringing on private landowner rights by stipulating that state and local officials can veto LWCF-funded land acquisitions from willing sellers who are dedicated to the conservation and stewardship of our natural resources.

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, which for years has consistently advocated for LWCF’s permanent reauthorization and full, dedicated funding, questioned the administration’s commitment to implementing the Great American Outdoors Act, noting that these requirements fall far outside the Interior Department’s scope – and that Congress had repeatedly rejected these exact restrictions in its decisions to advance both the Dingell Act and the Great American Outdoors Act.


https://www.dominionpost.com/2020/11/16/backcountry-hunters-and-anglers-questions-trump-administration-announcement-of-restrictions-on-lwcf-implementation/