|
RCBJ-Audible (Listen For Free)
 |
The Expired Legacy Restoration Fund Invested Over $280 million Across New York State, Generating An Estimated $1.1 Billion In Economic Activity
By Michael Oates
When people picture America’s national parks and historical sites, they often imagine distant western landscapes. But some of the country’s most treasured public lands are right here in the Hudson Valley, and they are quietly among our region’s most reliable economic engines. That is why the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation strongly supports the America the Beautiful Act (H.R. 9250/S. 1547) and the work of The Pew Charitable Trusts to see the Legacy Restoration Fund reauthorized before more of these assets fall into disrepair.
The Legacy Restoration Fund is not an abstraction. It was created in 2020 by the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act to tackle a growing backlog of deferred maintenance at the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Indian Education — crumbling roads and bridges, deteriorating historic structures, eroding trails, and aging visitor facilities. Financed largely with revenue from energy production on federal lands rather than new taxpayer dollars, the Fund directed more than $9 billion over five years to repairs that communities had waited decades to see completed.
New York has been a direct beneficiary. Since 2020, the Fund has invested over $280 million in ten federal land projects across our state, generating an estimated $1.1 billion in economic activity. Those dollars rehabilitated historic structures at the Statue of Liberty National Monument, addressed long-deferred maintenance at Gateway National Recreation Area, and restored the battlefield interpretive experience at Saratoga National Historical Park. Every one of those projects meant construction jobs, contracts for local firms, and improved access for the visitors whose spending sustains surrounding businesses.
The stakes are especially high in the Hudson Valley, where seven national sites could be eligible for this funding: the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, the Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site, the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. These are not just places of extraordinary history — they are anchors of our regional tourism economy, drawing travelers who fill our hotels, restaurants, farm stands, and Main Street shops.
The numbers statewide make the economic case plainly. In 2024, a record 315.4 million visitors came to New York, spending $94 billion, generating $145.2 billion in total economic impact, and supporting nearly 742,000 jobs. Tourism is one of our state’s largest industries, and well-maintained parks and historic sites are among the reasons people choose to visit — and to come back. When a trail washes out or a historic home closes for repairs it cannot afford, the loss is not only cultural. It ripples through every business that depends on those visitors.
Here is the problem: the Legacy Restoration Fund expired in 2025, and the need has not gone away. New York’s identified repair backlog now exceeds $1.1 billion, including more than $1.17 billion for the National Park Service alone. The America the Beautiful Act would extend the Fund for five more years at $1.9 billion annually — again financed with non-taxpayer dollars — while strengthening reporting and congressional oversight so every dollar is accountable. It builds directly on a proven model rather than inventing a new one.
What makes this moment remarkable is the breadth of agreement behind it. In an era when Washington agrees on almost nothing, the America the Beautiful Act is truly bipartisan legislation, currently cosponsored by 122 Democrats and 121 Republicans in the House — a nearly even split that is virtually unheard of. Here in New York, twelve members of our House delegation and both of our United States Senators have signed on. That kind of consensus does not happen by accident. It happens because investing in our public lands is not a red or blue issue; it is a common-sense investment in jobs, in heritage, and in the places that define who we are.
This year, as the nation marks its 250th anniversary, there may be no more fitting way to honor our shared story than to reinvest in the parks and historic sites that keep it alive. The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation is proud to stand with Pew and with the bipartisan coalition working to get this done. We urge Congress to move quickly, and we thank the members of New York’s delegation who have already stepped up. Reauthorizing the Legacy Restoration Fund is the rare policy that pays for itself many times over — in preserved history, in protected access, and in the steady economic returns our communities cannot afford to lose.
Michael Oates is President and CEO of the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation
