Latest news with #GreatAmericanOutdoorsAct
E&E News
3 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Trump move to redirect conservation dollars sparks anger
Conservationists are urging Congress to ignore President Donald Trump's requested changes to the Land and Water Conservation Fund in his fiscal 2026 budget request. Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law during his first term, which provided permanent annual funding of $900 million for the LWCF. The fund is used to purchase land for conservation or recreation use. But the LWCF Coalition and other conservation groups say Trump's new budget request, released Friday, would 'put a stake in the heart' of the program by diverting funds away from LWCF. Advertisement Specifically, the budget would propose diverting $111 million in LWCF funding to a new 'Forest Service Deferred Maintenance Program.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Improvements, full closure Blue Ridge Parkway postponed to accommodate Helene recovery
NORTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Following a request from a North Carolina senator, the planned full closure of the Blue Ridge Parkway to make repairs has been postponed. This week, the U.S. Department of Interior said it will pause the multi-year Great American Outdoors Act project underway on the Parkway. This is to accommodate continuing recovery needs from Hurricane Helene on the country's most-visited national park site. The department's action was in response to Sen. Ted Budd, who requested the delay until after the peak visitors' season. Helene ravaged the region last fall just as the season began, forcing an initial full closure due to debris and heavy damage to the roadway, and much of the the road remains closed to this day. Nearly 200 miles of Blue Ridge Parkway reopens as long-term work remains in North Carolina 'Communities in Western North Carolina were hit hard by Hurricane Helene, and as we begin to rebuild, closing the Blue Ridge Parkway at this juncture would only set us back,' Budd said in a statement. 'The Parkway serves as a lifeline to small businesses and recreation access across the Appalachian Region — bringing tourists, supporting local businesses, and keeping our economy moving. I'm grateful the Trump administration recognized our state's needs following a letter I sent last month. This is the right decision to prioritize the near-term recovery of our region while still ensuring the resurfacing project is completed in the future.' The full rehabilitation project and associated closures are now scheduled to take place in 2026, and the overall project to be completed in 2027 or later. At that time, full closures is slated for a nearly 20-mile stretch between Blowing Rock and Beacon Heights. The National Park Service is working closely with the Federal Highway Administration to make necessary project modifications. 'The National Park Service honors the important relationship between the Parkway and the many communities it connects over its 469-mile passage through North Carolina and Virginia,' the DOI said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
GMUG to temporarily close Island Lake day-use area, Little Bear Campground
MESA COUNTY, Colo. (KREX) – Starting on June 2, the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison (GMUG) National Forests' Grand Valley Ranger District are closing Little Bear Campground and the Island Lake day-use area for reconstruction and rehabilitation. Amidst the closure, which is to last through the summer of 2026, the site will get new fire rings, restrooms and picnic tables. GMUG also wants to improve the recreation and accessibility of the area with infrastructure improvements on kiosks, roads and walkways. For the Island Lake day-use area and its boat ramp, they'll be closed seasonally from June to November. The shoreline will remain open to fishing. These projects will use funding from the Great American Outdoors Act which provides federal land management agencies with resources for maintenance and improvement of public lands. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Daines proposes expanding federal funds for some public land projects
May 7—Montana's senators are backing efforts to extend a $2 billion pot of funding for maintenance projects on public lands. The America the Beautiful Act aims to reduce some of the $40 billion worth of deferred maintenance costs federal land agencies currently face by reauthorizing and expanding the Legacy Restoration Fund established through the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020. The fund directs revenues the federal government receives for energy development projects towards road and infrastructure repairs on public lands. "The America the Beautiful Act will fund crucial projects and address maintenance backlogs, so that people can get outside and enjoy the natural beauty we're lucky to have here in the U.S.," said Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines at a May 1 press conference. Daines introduced the America the Beautiful Act alongside Sen. Angus King, I-ME. Half a dozen other lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including Montana's junior Republican senator, Tim Sheehy, have signed on as bill sponsors. Under the America the Beautiful Act, annual allocations through the Legacy Restoration Fund would increase from $1.9 billion to $2 billion a year through 2033. Of those funds, 70% go to the National Park Service, the agency with the largest amount of deferred maintenance costs. The U.S. Forest Service receives 15% of the annual funds, and the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Education each receive 5%. The American the Beautiful Act introduces slight modifications to this selection criteria by adding prioritization for projects that provide at least a 15% match in funds. The bill also allows for funds to be used on any U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands. Currently, the agency can only apply funds to projects on national wildlife refuges. Many of the country's largest conservation organizations have rallied behind the bill. The Kalispell Chamber, Glacier Park Land Owners, Glacier National Park Conservancy and the Flathead County Board of Commissioners also provided statements of support referencing the $52.7 million the fund has contributed towards maintenance projects in Glacier National Park. The three projects the park financed with Legacy Restoration Funds include ongoing repairs to the 9.3-mile section of the Going-to-the-Sun Road that runs alongside McDonald Lake and updates to wastewater and water distribution systems in the Swiftcurrent area and at park headquarters. Another $20 million has been designated from the fund for lands in Montana administered by the Bureau of Land Management. President Donald Trump described the Great American Outdoors Act as "truly landmark legislation" during his first presidency and lauded the bipartisan partnership that brought the bill to his desk, but the America the Beautiful Act comes at a time of large-scale federal funding cuts. Among the line items in the Trump Administration's proposed budget plan is a $73 million reduction in the National Park Service's annual construction budget. While the document suggests the president may continue to support the use of Restoration Legacy Funds for construction projects in national parks, it also points toward potential changes in how these funds are allocated. "The Biden administration wasted federal funding on construction projects at sites that are more appropriately managed at the local level ... The president's deregulatory agenda will ensure that the Great American Outdoors Act funding for construction would go further than ever," the budget states. The America the Beautiful Act was referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. A hearing has yet to be scheduled. Reporter Hailey Smalley may be reached at 758-4433 or hsmalley@
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Critics blast Trump's Alcatraz plan over cost: Everything you need to know about reopening the notorious prison
Donald Trump is being blasted for his plans to reopen Alcatraz, with experts saying it will cost millions and years of work to make it a modern, functional prison. That is if he envisions getting to that level. 'REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!' President Trump bellowed on Truth Social Sunday evening in a post in which he lambasted criminals and 'the dregs of society' for being in America 'for too long.' The U.S. president told reporters on Sunday that the idea came from his frustration at 'radicalized judges' accused of slowing down his deportations. But former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes the island, questioned the feasibility of reopening the prison after so many years. "It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President's proposal is not a serious one," she wrote on X. Others have spoken more plainly on the idea. Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator representing San Francisco, said: 'Putting aside that Alcatraz is a museum & tourist attraction, this is both nuts & terrifying.' While Democrat influencer Brian Krassenstein called the idea the 'dumbest proposal I've heard.' According to some estimates, to house just 200 to 300 inmates at the remote island prison off the coast of San Francisco could be more than double that of a normal mainland facility. As one attorney on X noted, in 1963, cost per inmate at Alcatraz would be twice that of other federal prisons due to the transportation costs (via barge) for food, water, and other supplies. Adjusting such costs for inflation, annual operating costs could be $100 million for up to 300 inmates, compared to $50 million for a regular facility back on dry land. Meanwhile, a Democratic policy analyst on X estimated it would cost between $235 million and $370 million to rebuild and reopen the prison. In his post criticising the move, Krassenstein said: 'At least $175-250m just to shore up crumbling concrete, retrofit for earthquakes, and install 21st-century security tech. Operating costs that never stop bleeding. Everything, water, food, fuel, must be barged in, and raw sewage barged out. That pushes the annual budget to 3× a comparable mainland prison, roughly $70–75 M every single year.' As it stands, Alcatraz is a popular tourist attraction, managed by the National Park Service for visitors across the globe. However, with around 1.6 million visitors, the prison only generates approximately $60 million in annual revenue – slightly short of estimated figures. In 2024, a rehabilitation project to correct seismic structural deficiencies of Alcatraz's Main Prison Building was revealed, with funding of approximately $63.6 million provided by the Great American Outdoors Act, according to the NPS. Its completion date was estimated for the fall of 2027. Trump's proposal to reopen Alcatraz comes amid his controversial migrant detention policies, with his administration being taken to court over the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds of individuals to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center. 'For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,' he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. 'That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders.' At its peak Alcatraz housed around 260 to 275, and never reached its maximum 336-cell capacity. Such a capacity was less than one percent of the federal prison population at the time. As of 2025 that number is over 156,000 – with estimates of over two million people incarcerated in the U.S. overall. Even if reopened, the prison would do very little to help the problem of prison overpopulation, never mind the millions of undocumented migrants that Trump is targeting for prison or deportation. Alcatraz Island, known famously as 'The Rock', was first discovered by the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775 along with two other islands in San Francisco Bay – the 'Alcatraces'. A century-and-a-half later, a presidential order set it aside for military use in 1850 before the first military prisoners were being housed on the island by the late 1850s. It continued its role as a prison for over 100 years. After closing in 1963, the jail first opened to the public in the fall of 1973, following a congressional order to open a new National Park Service Unit, called the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in 1972. It has since ballooned in popularity to become one of the most visited tourist spots in the U.S., with over a million visitors from across the world each year, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The most notorious criminals to be housed at Alcatraz included Alphonse 'Al' Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, and "Ma Barker' gang members, Alvin Karpis, and Arthur "Doc" Barker. Karpis served the longest term at the penitentiary, 26 years, after being sentenced to life imprisonment for ten murders, six kidnappings, and a robbery. According to the FBP, 'most of the prisoners incarcerated there were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks.' Prisoners would undergo a monotonous daily routine inside the penitentiary and were granted four basic rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Everything else was a privilege that needed to be earned. According to records, no one has ever successfully escaped Alcatraz. Yet between 1934 and the prison's closure, a total of 36 men tried to escape on 14 separate occasions. 'Nearly all were caught or didn't survive the attempt,' states the FBI. However, the fates of three inmates, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris, remain a mystery. Alcatraz officially closed on March 21, 1963, after 29 years of operation as a secure prison. Its closure was held back because of the disappearance of Morris and the Anglins, with the decision to close the prison made long before the three disappeared, states the FBP. The institution was judged to be too expensive to continue operating with roughly $3-5million needed to restore the site.
