RV Industry Association Celebrates Great American Outdoors Act Anniversary

Since becoming law four years ago, on August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act has had a prominent impact on the outdoor recreation industry. The bipartisan legislation is the largest investment in our public lands in nearly a century, investing up to $9.5 billion of nontaxpayer funds to address the infrastructure within the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal agencies. The Act has been championed by the RV Industry Association’s Government Affairs team and the wider RV industry.

The funding has made a significant difference in modernizing and expanding campgrounds. This ensures safe and adequate access to public lands and waters for generations of RVers to come. The Department of the Interior has reported that, through FY2023, the Great American Outdoors Act has funded 276 projects across 50 states and multiple U.S. territories to address an estimated $3.4 billion in deferred maintenance and repairs. These include campgrounds, trails, parks, and facilities, among other initiatives. This allows campgrounds to improve visitors’ experiences, including those of RVers. 

Projects funded by the Act since its passage into law include:

• Yellowstone Campground Renovation: $50 million has been provided for the site to renovate existing restroom and shower facilities as well as install picnic tables, fire rings, and food storage lockers. 
• Rocky Mountain National Park Campground: $20 million has been assigned to modernize the utility systems, replace outdated shower facilities, improve road access, and implement eco-friendly materials and technologies.
• Acadia National Park: $15 million has been provided for site expansion, infrastructure improvements, waste management, and new visitor facilities. 
• Great Smoky Mountain National Park: $31 million has been allocated for repairs to roads, bridges, and overlooks, as well as to provide safe access to campgrounds. This includes Look Rock Campground, for which the RV Industry Association team helped secure a multi-million-dollar investment to reopen.
• Zion National Park Campground: $12 million has been provided to create new campsites, build new and improved shower facilities, expand parking areas, and plant native vegetation. 
• Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park: Almost $1 million has been allocated for the site’s Lodgepole Campground Water System Rehabilitation project.
• Yosemite National Park: $9.8 million is being provided to rehabilitate Yosemite’s Crane Flat Campground by reconstructing the roadway to better accommodate larger RVs and other vehicles. These high-priority improvements will directly benefit the more than 100,000 annual visitors to the Crane Flat campground by increasing accessibility and improving the condition of the deteriorated campground.
• Crater Lake National Park: $45 million has been provided to improve park roads. This project will eliminate all backlog maintenance related to this road’s features and will provide improved visitor access to the park. It will also apply modern safety standards for sight lines, curvature, and elevation changes that will vastly improve the RVing experience.
• Blue Ridge Parkway: $75 million has been provided for road surface repairs, bridge upgrades, drainage improvements, and safety enhancements. This will improve access for RVers traveling to and from the park. 
• Grand Teton Roadway Improvements: $40 million has been allocated for repaving main park roads, improving wildlife crossings, creating parking expansions, and improving road access to popular trailheads. 

Other campground related projects, which are being invested in and addressed by the US Forest Service, include the Modoc National Forest, White River National Forest, Coconino National Forest, and more.

Learn more about Great American Outdoors Act initiatives.