On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law, providing $900 million of full and dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for the protection of parks, wildlife refuges and recreation areas at the federal, state and local level.  The LWCF was created by Congress in 1964 with revenues from offshore oil and gas royalty payments, but until the passage of the Act, was only partially and inconsistently funded.  Funds from LWCF are used by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service to protect and conserve federal lands administered by these agencies, and state and local funding programs like the Forest Legacy Program, provide local funding for the creation of recreation areas and the preservation of natural areas.  The Land & Water Conservation Fund Coalition, including the Land Trust Alliance, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and numerous state and local outdoor recreation and conservation organizations in the Rocky Mountain West and throughout the country have worked for years to make this funding a reality.