Sportfishing industry celebrates enactment of landmark public lands bill

Alexandria, VA – August 4, 2020 – The historic and bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act became law today after being signed by President Trump.

American Sportfishing Association (ASA) President Glenn Hughes attended a ceremony at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) headquarters, hosted by Secretary of the                                                           Interior David Bernhard celebrating the bill’s enactment. The ceremony also included the signing of a new proclamation establishing August 5, as Great American Outdoors Day,                                                         when all DOI fees will be waived.
 
The sportfishing industry sincerely thanks President Trump and Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt for championing this critically important effort for conservation and outdoor recreation,” said Hughes. “Without their leadership, the Great American Outdoors Act, which will benefit the nation’s public lands for generations, could not have become  law.” 

The Great American Outdoors Act permanently funds the highly successful Land and Water Conservation Fund which, for the past five decades, has helped provide access to recreational areas, trails and waterways throughout the nation. Importantly for the sportfishing industry, the Great American Outdoors Act ensures that $15 million annually is dedicated to expanding public access for fishing and other forms of outdoor recreation.                                                      
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 It also creates the “National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund” to address the crumbling infrastructure on America’s public lands and waters. This program will provide $9.5 billion over five years to the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to improve trails, campgrounds, roads, visitor centers and other infrastructure.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   We also want to thank the Great American Outdoors Act’s Congressional champions, particularly Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.),” said Hughes. “The success of the Great American Outdoors Act proves that by putting their partisan differences aside, legislators can come together for the sake of natural resource conservation.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

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The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) is the sportfishing industry’s trade association committed to representing the interests of the sportfishing and boating industries as well as the entire sportfishing community. We give the industry and anglers a unified voice when emerging laws and policies could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing itself. ASA invests in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain strong and prosperous, as well as safeguard and promote the enduring economic, conservation and social values of sportfishing in America. ASA also gives America’s 49 million anglers a voice in policy decisions that affect their ability to sustainably fish on our nation’s waterways through Keep America Fishing, our national angler advocacy campaign. America’s anglers generate nearly $50 billion in retail sales with a $125 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for 800,000 people.