Full Committee Markup

The House Committee on Natural Resources GOP held a full committee markup on June 25, 2026, to consider HR 9250, the Great American Outdoors Act 2.0, which seeks to reauthorize and enhance the Legacy Restoration Fund for an additional five years. The fund supports deferred maintenance and infrastructure improvements across national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and public lands. The bipartisan legislation includes provisions to encourage public-private partnerships, improve transparency and accountability, streamline project delivery, and establish new sustainable funding sources such as foreign visitor fees and licensing of Department of Interior intellectual property. Committee members discussed the economic benefits of the bill, the importance of maintaining public lands, and concerns about the impact of increased foreign visitor fees on tourism-dependent communities. An amendment to strike the foreign visitor fee was proposed but ultimately rejected. The committee adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute and ordered the bill reported favorably to the House. The markup emphasized bipartisan cooperation and the goal of preserving national parks and public lands for future generations while addressing a significant deferred maintenance backlog.