The Great American Outdoors Act is supporting the USDA Forest Service to deliver benefits to the American public through major investments in recreation infrastructure, public lands access, and land and water conservation.
The USDA Forest Service is giving the public an inside look on the progress of the Great American Outdoors Act with a newly released dashboard.
These projects are making impacts on national forests across the United States. More and more roads and trails are being repaired, recreation sites renovated, and structures updated to expand public access. The Forest Service has more than 550 projects underway to reduce the agency’s deferred maintenance backlog and improve public access to outdoor recreation.
The new dashboard builds on the ongoing efforts to keep the public informed of the agency’s work. Last year the Forest Service launched a story map that shows the difference some of the projects are having on local communities by improving access and outdoor recreation opportunities. The dashboard launched today provides an opportunity to closely track performance and execution of each project.
“The Forest Service’s approach to implementing the Great American Outdoors Act was grounded in asking the public and partners what was most important,” said Chris French, Forest Service Deputy Chief for the National Forest System. “This new dashboard strengthens the Forest Service commitment to transparency and accountability by showing the public our progress on upgrading our facilities and enhancing public access to their national forests.”
Users can also see progress on specific projects from coast to coast. Using the dashboard, the public can see how the agency is addressing deferred maintenance. For example In 2021, the Forest Service repaired the snowmobile parking area repairs on Klamath National Forest. When complete, this project will provide local communities and visitors with easier access to winter recreation opportunities and invite new users to try out winter snow sports.
On the other side of the country users can check in on the, the Pandapas Pond Project , on the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. This project improves a hiking trail and a fishing platform at a popular site just outside of Blacksburg, Virginia.
These are just two examples of the 556 projects funded in fiscal year 2021 under the Great American Outdoors Act. In addition to tracking the overall implementation of the fund, the public now has an opportunity to look into each individual project and review details such as project descriptions, impacts on deferred maintenance, and implementation status. Additional information provided includes the number of roads, trails, bridges, and similar infrastructure assets addressed by the GAOA projects as well as projects completed by partner groups, including Conservation Corps and tribal organizations.
All data included in the dashboard are updated on an ongoing basis by the staff on the national forests and grasslands, providing the most current records on GAOA project implementation. Future fiscal year projects will be made available on the dashboard once authorized by Congress.
For additional information on the Forest Service implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/gaoa.
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