ASLA Hawaii Support Featured in Senate Passage of the "Great American Outdoors Act."

ASLA and Hirono-Backed Great American Outdoors Act Passes Senate and House!

ASLA Statement on passage of the Bill through both chambers of Congress:

The Hawaii Chapter of ASLA is proud to support Senators Hirono, Schatz and the other 60 sponsors of the "Great American Outdoors Act". This bill establishes the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to support deferred maintenance projects on federal lands. For FY2021-FY2025, "there shall be deposited into the fund an amount equal to 50% of all federal revenues from the development of oil, gas, coal, or alternative or renewable energy on federal lands and waters. Deposited amounts must not exceed $1.9 billion for any fiscal year." ASLA Hawaii provided the following language in support of the bill:

"Residents of Hawai’i and millions of people from all over the world visit the Hawaiian islands every year to enjoy our national, state, and local parks. These landscapes are incredibly important to our local culture and sense of place. Landscape architects take great pride in the work we do to design, maintain, and protect these spaces. But too often, these parks fall into disrepair due to lack of funding,” said Simon M. Bussiere, ASLA, president of the Hawai’i Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).“The Great American Outdoors Act will go a long way to fixing these problems by permanently and fully funding LWCF and providing critical funds for park infrastructure. ASLA is proud to support this bill. We thank Senator Hirono for sponsoring it and for her years of leadership on the conservation and protection of public lands.”

Link to the Bill HERE.

And for more background, please check out Nature Conservancy's article, "Great American Outdoors Act Would Protect and Restore America’s Public Lands", HERE.