House Natural Resources Committee holds Grand Teton hearing on reauthorizing Great American Outdoors Act

The House Natural Resources Committee convened an oversight field hearing at Grand Teton National Park to examine reauthorizing the Great American Outdoors Act and the law’s Legacy Restoration Fund, focusing on deferred maintenance, park staffing and local economic impacts.

The hearing opened with Chairman Bruce Westerman, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, saying it was “an honor to be here today beneath the soaring Grand Tetons to hold this hearing on a very important subject.” Representative Harriet Hageman, host and a Wyoming member of the committee, and Ranking Member designee Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez also gave opening remarks that framed the session around preparing parks for rising visitation and future generations.

Why it matters: Witnesses said continuing the Legacy Restoration Fund would allow the National Park Service and other land agencies to complete large, costly rehabilitation projects and to leverage private and local funds. They told the committee that investment in parks supports gateway economies and jobs while chronic understaffing and limits on project delivery capacity threaten progress made since the law’s 2020–21 implementation.

Superintendent Chip Jenkins of Grand Teton National Park told the panel that the Great American Outdoors Act “has been transformative” for the park and described projects funded through the law, including replacement of a failing Colter Bay lift station originally built in 1969. Jenkins said the lift station replacement “provides safe, reliable operations” and protects Jackson Lake and the Snake River. He said Grand Teton’s deferred maintenance backlog stands at roughly $343,000,000 and that the park has used GAOA funds for four projects totaling about $77,800,000.

Local officials and businesses described the economic stakes. Julie Calder, chair of the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board and vice president of guest experience for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, said travel in Teton County generated about $1,700,000,000 in visitor spending and supported more than 8,400 local jobs. Taylor Phillips, founder of EcoTour Adventures, said small guiding businesses rely on roads, trails, restrooms and campgrounds, adding that “without them and without healthy wildlife and access to public lands, our livelihoods vanish.”

Advocacy and capacity concerns: Kristen Bringle of the National Parks Conservation Association told the committee the Park Service has completed work on thousands of assets with GAOA funds but warned that the agency’s capacity is strained. “The Park Service has lost 24% of its permanent workforce since January,” Bringle said, and she urged lifting hiring restrictions and restoring planning and design staff—specifically citing losses at the Denver Service Center—as necessary to sustain project delivery.

Philanthropy and partnerships: Leslie Matson, president of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, described the foundation’s role in leveraging private donations to complement federal dollars. She said the foundation has raised more than $150,000,000 over 27 years and highlighted Jenny Lake and the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center as projects where private funds matched federal investment. Matson urged rules that allow more flexible federal matching and direct transfers to trusted partners to accelerate project delivery.

Statutory and program details: Representative Hageman reviewed GAOA’s structure in her opening remarks, noting the statute established a mandatory Legacy Restoration Fund that received roughly $1.9 billion annually for fiscal years 2021–2025 (a total she cited as $9.5 billion) and that the National Park Service received about $1.33 billion or 70% of the annual allocation. Hageman also said the statute requires that 65% of funds be used for non-transportation projects and argued for a future iteration of GAOA that would prioritize modernization, visitor access and rural parks.

Members pressed witnesses on implementation topics: Representative Doug LaMalfa asked about planning and compliance costs, noting earlier GAOA rounds allocated a sizable portion of funds to planning functions. Jenkins and witnesses agreed that streamlining procurement and permitting—while maintaining environmental protections—could speed project delivery. Several witnesses recommended statutory authorities to better leverage public-private partnerships and to create predictable multi-year funding to support large projects.

Other examples and provisions discussed included: Colter Bay infrastructure renewal; Moose Wilson Road and a multi-year pilot bike route evaluation; use of GAOA to pair federal funds with philanthropic investments at Jenny Lake; and two Land and Water Conservation Fund acquisitions cited by Matson—the Antelope Flats parcel and the Kelly parcel—totaling more than 1,200 acres added to Grand Teton through combinations of LWCF and private or state contributions.

Committee direction and next steps: Chairman Westerman closed by asking witnesses to answer follow-up questions in writing and directed members to submit questions to the committee clerk by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 2025-09-10; the committee held the record open for 10 business days for responses. Representatives also entered a newspaper article into the record by unanimous consent and signaled bipartisan interest in drafting reauthorization language that would preserve deferred maintenance priorities while allowing more modernization and better geographic distribution of projects.