(June 24, 2026) – Washington, DC – Moments ago, the House Natural Resources Committee passed the America the Beautiful Act, which was formerly known as the Great American Outdoors Act 250, on a voice vote, a sign of the widespread support for this bill. This legislation was spearheaded through the Committee by the bill sponsors and leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee, Chairman Bruce Westerman, Co-Chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC), and CSC Member and Ranking Member Jared Huffman.
This legislation, a top priority for CSF, seeks to reauthorize the Legacy Restoration Fund to provide much-needed financial resources to restore the degraded infrastructure on federal public lands. Despite the criticality and unmatched support for our federal public lands, these lands and waters continue to face a significant backlog of deferred maintenance that has the potential to threaten access for sportsmen and women. This legislation will help turn the corner on this issue and improve opportunities to further enjoy our federal lands.
“CSF thanks Chairman Westerman, Ranking Member Huffman, and the dozens of other Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Members who sponsored this bill for their continued commitment to America’s sportsmen and women and federal public lands through the America the Beautiful Act,” said CSF Senior Vice President Taylor Schmitz. “The passage of this legislation is a direct result of their commitments to work in a collaborative, bipartisan manner to craft a piece of legislation that is critical to all Americans who enjoy federal public lands.”
This bill, as passed by the Committee, also makes important modifications to the Legacy Restoration Fund, including directives that will help improve access opportunities specifically for sportsmen and women that utilize lands and waters managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, such as the National Wildlife Refuge System. This language will ensure that projects within the Refuge System fund projects such as water control structures that are critical to sustaining waterfowl populations and fish, among others, that simultaneously support access for hunters and anglers. CSF strongly supports this change, and we are grateful for its inclusion.
Just last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed its version of the America the Beautiful Act. Both the House and Senate versions now await floor consideration in their respective chambers.