ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Wildlife Federation applauds Tuesday’s action by President Donald Trump to sign the Great American Outdoors Act into law.
The most significant conservation legislation in a generation, the Great American Outdoors Act will protect wildlife habitat, conserve public lands and waters and expand outdoor recreation opportunities across New Mexico and the nation. It will also help to address the maintenance backlog at national parks and other federal facilities.
The Great American Outdoors Act funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund and will provide up to $1.9 billion a year to address deferred maintenance issues at our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands.
“For over 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has helped to fund the public acquisition of such vitally important lands as the Valles Caldera National Preserve,” said Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund has helped to preserve and increase public access for hunting and fishing while preserving critical wildlife habitat and helping our state’s outdoor recreation economy,” Deubel said. “Fully funding it is a critical step toward preserving our nation’s wildlife and wild places.”
Deubel credited the work of New Mexico’s entire congressional delegation for helping push the measure through Congress this year. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., was a co-sponsor of the bill in the House.
“New Mexico leaders have a long tradition of leading the way on conservation and the federation is thrilled to see that work continue through this historic victory today,” Deubel said. “Rep. Torres Small and the entire New Mexico delegation truly stood up for all New Mexicans in getting this bill passed into law.”
President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Cory Gardner, R-Colo., all spoke at the signing, saying the new law is among the most important pieces of conservation legislation in the nation’s history.
“We’re here today to celebrate the passage of truly landmark legislation that will preserve America’s majestic natural wonders, priceless historic treasures, and that’s exactly what they are — grand national monuments and glorious national parks,” Trump said. “This is a very big deal from an environmental standpoint, and from just the beauty of our country standpoint. There hasn’t been anything like this since Teddy Roosevelt, I suspect.”
Under the Great American Outdoors Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund will receive over $900 million a year in revenues from offshore energy production. The act guarantees full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the first time since Congress created it in the 1960s.
“The Great American Outdoors Act is a truly historic, bipartisan conservation accomplishment that will protect wildlife habitat, expand recreational opportunities, restore public lands and waters, and create good jobs,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.
“Time and again, our leaders have shown that conservation can not only bridge the partisan divide, but also put Americans back to work and safeguard wildlife and our way of life for future generations,” O’Mara said.
“Congress should build on this bipartisan achievement by jump-starting our post-COVID 19 economic recovery by passing additional job-creating measures such as a 21st Century Conservation Corps and the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act,” O’Mara said.
Fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is often called America’s most effective land conservation program, has been a top priority of the National Wildlife Federation and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. Fifty-six years ago, the National Wildlife Federation worked closely with Interior Secretary Stewart Udall and leaders in Congress to secure the initial passage of the program, and then worked to increase funding and programmatic impact in 1968, 1970 and 1977.
For the past six years, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation helped lead the charge to permanently reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The bipartisan triumph of the Great American Outdoors Act is the result of the hard work of our members, affiliates, and partners who spoke with their elected officials, wrote letters, and kept up a steady stream of advocacy for this important program.
“This is a historic day for New Mexico and for conservation nationwide,” Deubel said.