Oregon hunters: Don’t miss a shot at maintaining public lands

Oregon hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts are calling on Congress to renew funding needed for billions of dollars of repairs on aging roads, trails and other infrastructure on public lands.

The National Parks and Public Lands Legacy Restoration Fund expired in 2025, with more than $35 billion in repairs still needed nationwide, including about $4 billion in Oregon.

Tyler Dungannon, conservation director for the Oregon Hunters Association, said hunters and many others depend on safe roads, trails and campgrounds to get outside.

“Many of our smaller communities do best economically during hunting seasons and if hunting access is difficult because of failing infrastructure, that could have an impact on local communities,” Dungannon explained.

Committees in both the House and Senate have passed bills to reauthorize the Legacy Restoration Fund. The measures now head to the full House and Senate for votes. President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act in 2020, which established the fund. Before it expired, the fund provided $9 billion for repairs over five years, including in Oregon.

James Fraser, Oregon policy director for the conservation group Trout Unlimited, said projects included the replacement of an undersized culvert in the South Fork John Day watershed, which is a popular area for hunters, anglers and other national forest users. He added the bridge is now safe enough for fire trucks and native fish can more easily swim beneath it.

“That’s a deferred maintenance infrastructure project that was a win-win-win for firefighters, public land users, fish and the contractors that did the job,” Fraser outlined.

Federally managed public lands contributed an estimated $56 billion and more than 340,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in 2024.

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