Intermountain Region Celebrates Third Year of Great American Outdoors Act

By Kari Tilton
Intermountain Region
August 3, 2023

Friday marks the third anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act, the single largest investment in public lands in U.S. history.

GAOA funding has improved a wide variety of recreational areas including trails, campgrounds, visitor’s centers, and boating access across the country and in communities throughout the Intermountain Region.

Three years ago, GAOA funding provided the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service the opportunity to benefit the American public through major investments on completing deferred maintenance on existing infrastructure.  

Nearly 1,000 deferred maintenance projects are in progress across the country, with nearly 150 having been completed. These projects are expected to support roughly 3,500 jobs and contribute $350 million to local economies.

The Intermountain Region, which consists of 12 national forests in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada, has received $78 million in GAOA funding and has fully completed 27 projects to date. Another 52 projects are underway, and 54 projects are in the planning or contracting stages. This includes more than 100 recreation and trails projects and 25 road and bridge projects.

“GAOA funding has been crucial for much-needed – and in some cases long-overdue – repairs and upgrades to a wide range of recreational infrastructure throughout our region’s national forests,” said Mary Farnsworth, Regional Forester for the Intermountain Region. “We’re proud of the work we’ve accomplished in the last three years and we’re looking forward to completing a long list of additional projects that will help ensure our visitors have the best experience possible while connecting to nature and making memories here in the Intermountain Region.”

The Intermountain Region offers diverse recreational opportunities that attract roughly 25 million visitors to its 34 million acres each year for camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, off-road vehicle use, boating, and more.

Outdoor recreation in the U.S. has grown significantly over the years thanks to increased accessibility options, such as mountain bikes, e-bikes, and all-terrain vehicles. These upward trends are expected to continue, according to Forest Service research. The COVID-19 pandemic and population growth have also boosted outdoor recreation across the country and introduced a new set of users to public lands.

Following is a list of several prominent GAOA projects in the region:  

The Pineview Reservoir Recreation Complex Reconstruction Project on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah aims to improve facilities at this popular reservoir, which hosts nearly 1million visitors during the summer months. The project is a comprehensive public-private partnership to address deferred maintenance with a focus on day-use facilities including picnic areas, parking lots, restrooms, water systems, trails, roads, and signage. Several parts of this project have been completed, others are underway and some are in the planning stages.

The Mount Rose and Tahoe Meadows Reconstruction Project on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada addresses deferred maintenance at these trailheads. Work includes the replacement of two vault toilets and repair and reconstruction of the parking area. The contract for the project has been awarded and work is slated to begin soon.

The Greys River Road and Recreation Site Improvement Project on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming seeks to enhance visitor access in the high-use Greys River corridor by addressing deficiencies in roads and recreational facilities. This project will include gravel surfacing, improvements to water systems, rental cabins, interpretive sites and kiosk installation, along with the replacement of picnic tables and fire rings at area campgrounds. This project is currently underway.

The Redfish Lake Projects on the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho has two key pieces. A trail bridge has been replaced over Redfish Lake Creek and the final phase of road work is funded and will be starting soon.

“Addressing deferred maintenance at popular recreation areas like these is important because much-needed repairs are being made to enhance the experiences of our visitors to the forest,” said Kevin Bourne, GAOA Program Manager for the Intermountain Region. “In some cases, 50-year-old tables and toilets are now new, accessibility issues are being addressed, and modern camping vehicles will now fit on a person’s favorite campsite.”

These critical investments have created hundreds of jobs across the region and will continue to help ensure our National Forest System lands in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada are in good condition to meet the needs of our visitors, he added.

To see the current status of GAOA projects in the region and across the country, please take a look at the searchable map.