President Trump has signed into effect the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). In doing so, we have a bipartisan agreement which has been touted across the political spectrum as a ‘generational’ conservation legislation. Though, people with political agendas on both sides weren’t above points scoring against each other. The great conservationist Teddy Roosevelt would approve greatly of HR 1957 (we think).
“The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) is the biggest land conservation legislation in a generation. The National Parks Conservation Association, the leading advocacy organization for the parks, is hailing it as “a conservationist’s dream.”
Professor Linda J. Bilmes
For the last twenty years I’ve been dreaming of a move to the USA. A large part of that is to experience it’s vast natural resources which are much more open to people and activities than say the forests in Ireland. Where I currently live. Sadly, the maintenance of these national treasures has fallen behind. There are 50% more visitors to national parks now than there were in 1980. The budget for them has remained flat.
Why have visitor numbers to parks risen yet budget has fallen?
The footfall increase isn’t because we spend more time in nature per se. Current generations spend less time per person than ever before. Partly the numbers are based on population increase and to a greater extent on tourism. Nature tourism generates billions of dollars for the economy annually but it’s complicated to isolate that revenue and to funnel that back into funding. Much of that revenue is state collected and much of the national park remit is federally funded for example.
Whilst it isn’t widely talked about the way we spend our time in the wilderness has also changed and that affects funding. More people than ever before are venturing into the outdoors to perform non-traditional outdoors pursuits. Day hiking & photography for example. Neither of these activities pay a license fee. Hunting and Fishing licenses do, and they directly pay for conservation.
These activities are in decline both through lack of youth participation and political pressure from activists. The funding gap grows wider each year.
”Only about 5 percent of Americans, 16 years old and older, actually hunt. That’s half of what it was 50 years ago and the decline is expected to accelerate over the next decade.”
US Fish and Wildlife Survey
What’s the official government line on the GAOA?
When announcing the signing of the act, the President predictably, didn’t exactly get to the point. Keen to reference that last year he added 1.3 million acres of public land as new wilderness. Refuting claims from environmentalists that he doesn’t care.
We don’t know if he does care or not. What we do know is that these have both been good things and that he also publicly stated support for the REPLANT act. However, he stated very clearly his thoughts on more non-PC activities like hunting, fishing and camping (Which we also support).
”while I’m President, we will always protect the great outdoors for hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and the admiration, enjoyment, and reverence of every American citizen.”
President Trump
Whether you like the guy or not, it’s a sentiment we should all be able to get behind.
There’s a hope that the $9.5 Billion over the next five years will go a long way towards narrowing the conservation funding gap. It may, if figures are to be believed, also produce 110,000 new infrastructure jobs in a time they are badly needed. For once, the environment and the economy are in sync. It’s a shame that it took the country closing down through Coronavirus for this to happen.