"America the Beautiful" September Recap | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Interior Department Leaders Travel Across America to Celebrate Historic Investments from Great American Outdoors Act

    Leaders from the Department of the Interior traveled across America in August to celebrate the historic investments from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), a bipartisan investment that improves visitor experiences, bolsters climate resilience and invests in the economy by creating good-paying jobs in our national parks, wildlife refuges, recreation areas and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. Secretary Haaland kicked the tour off by traveling to Yosemite National Park to see first-hand how GAOA funding has helped bolster critical water, electrical, camping and housing infrastructure across the park. Investments like these enhance recreational opportunities and improve access to nature nationwide in line with the America the Beautiful initiative. GAOA's Public Land Legacy Restoration funding sunsets after fiscal year 2025 and would need to be reauthorized by Congress to continue the efforts underway to address significant infrastructure needs across public lands.

    President Biden's Investing in America Agenda to Help Restore Bison Populations and Grassland Ecosystems in Tribal Communities

    The Department of the Interior announced $5 million from President Biden's Investing in America agenda to support the restoration of bison populations and grassland ecosystems in Tribal communities. The funding will support Tribally led initiatives to strengthen bison conservation and expansion, improved management of existing herds, and ecosystem restoration efforts in native grassland habitats. In addition to advancing the America the Beautiful initiative these investments support Secretary Haaland's Secretary's Order on enhancing the restoration of American bison and the Department's new Grasslands Keystone Initiative, unveiled as part of a restoration and resilience framework that is guiding $2 billion in investments to restore lands and waters and advance climate resilience.

    National Park Visitation Sets New Record as Economic Engines

    The Interior Department announced that visitor spending in communities near national parks in 2022 resulted in a record high $50.3 billion benefit to the nation's economy and supported 378,400 jobs. The National Park Service report, 2022 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that nearly 312 million visitors spent $23.9 billion in communities within 60 miles of a national park and that, of the 378,400 jobs supported by visitor spending, 314,600 jobs were in park gateway communities. Strengthening local economies through locally led, partnership-driven conservation and outdoor recreation reflects a central focus of the America the Beautiful initiative.