Senators push to reauthorize Legacy Restoration Fund as national parks face funding cliff
Senators Angus King and Steve Daines say the program's Sept. 30, 2025, expiration threatens repairs, jobs and local economies tied to national park visitation.
Two U.S. senators urged Congress on Friday to reauthorize the federal Legacy Restoration Fund, warning that the program’s scheduled expiration next year could halt repairs and projects across the National Park System and harm communities that rely on park tourism.
Independent Angus King of Maine and Republican Steve Daines of Montana argued in an opinion piece published by Fox News that the fund, created under the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act, has been instrumental in addressing long-neglected maintenance needs at national parks and generating local economic activity. The senators said the Legacy Restoration Fund, or LRF, is set to expire Sept. 30, 2025, and must be reauthorized by Congress to avoid a funding cliff.
King and Daines cited figures from the LRF’s first five years, saying more than $6.5 billion has been invested in nearly 400 projects nationwide. They said the program has supported an estimated $8 billion in gross domestic product and more than 72,000 jobs, and that park visitors generated over $55 billion in spending for nearby communities last year from about 331 million visits.
The senators framed the fund as both a preservation and economic tool, saying investments have improved visitor safety and modernized park infrastructure while supporting guides, hospitality workers and small businesses in gateway communities. King, a former governor of Maine, and Daines, a former private-sector executive who represents Montana, used Acadia National Park and Glacier National Park as examples of sites where investments have buoyed local economies.
The LRF was created after Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020, a bipartisan package that the senators said represented the largest investment in the parks in more than half a century. King and Daines said they introduced legislation called the America the Beautiful Act to reauthorize the LRF and extend the program’s work through the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
Support for reauthorization has emerged from a range of groups, the senators said, noting endorsements from more than 50 national organizations spanning economic, conservation and heritage interests. They argued that reauthorization would continue a bipartisan approach to maintaining public lands and protecting historical sites.
If Congress does not act, the senators warned, projects underway could stall, repair costs could rise and communities that depend on park tourism could suffer. The op-ed presented the reauthorization as a timely matter for lawmakers given the program’s impending expiration and the upcoming national anniversary.
Congressional committees and lawmakers are considering various proposals related to park funding, including broader debates over fee structures and visitor contributions. The debate over the LRF’s future comes as the National Park Service prepares to manage thousands of sites that serve recreation, conservation and historical preservation roles across the United States.
Lawmakers in both parties will face decisions about whether to make the Legacy Restoration Fund a permanent feature of federal park funding, extend it for a set period, or pursue alternative financing measures. The senators’ appeal places the issue on the legislative agenda as lawmakers approach the Sept. 30, 2025, deadline for the program’s authorization.