In a rare bipartisan move this congressional session, Congress has approved a landmark $9 billion public lands act, the "Great American Outdoors Act," that restores and increases funding for the National Park Service, National Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Education.
The bill helps reduce a massive backlog in deferred maintenance on all these federal lands. It will have the major impact on western states, where there are vast amounts of federal lands--and you'll likely notice a difference in coming years if you hike, bike, walk, or vacation in National Parks, Forests, or BLM lands out west.
But the funding could have major impacts here in Missouri as well, where long-underfunded National Park Service assets include:
