ARIZONA—The Forest Service’s Legacy Restoration Fund, which provides money for long-deferred maintenance of recreational structures and trails, has committed almost $50 million since 2020 to projects across four national forests in Arizona. Thanks to that funding, more than 70 overdue repairs and renovations have been completed. The fund’s implementation team recently visited the forests to highlight the impact of the Great American Outdoors Act in the region.

In addition to conducting much-needed repair and maintenance, engineering and recreation specialists have found new opportunities to work more closely together. They learned how to approach larger projects in a strategic way.

“When we first started, we were not thinking long term,” said Venus Jensen, GAOA program manager for the region. “Now we’re trying to balance the short-term projects with a more strategic approach. We want the work to be more sustainable and provide a better visitor experience for years.”

The funds dedicated to overdue maintenance have freed up other opportunities within the region to expand on the work Forest Service staff can do. Moving forward, Jensen hopes this flexibility will continue bearing fruit.

“Our folks here are committed to the work they do,” she added. “They go above and beyond the call of duty to do what’s best for these landscapes. We’d like to build on this opportunity to offer a broader range of experiences to those visitors.”

For three days, Samantha Reho, communications coordinator for GAOA, and her team took over the Forest Service social media accounts, including Twitter and Instagram, spotlighting the forests and dedicated staff who have worked as stewards of the Southwestern Region’s unique national forests.

“It’s important to make sure that visitors to our forests have a comfortable and safe time,” said Reho. “We’re working to preserve these unique and beautiful areas for current and future visitors. It’s great to see the end results in person and share them with the world.”

The takeover of social media resulted in significant increases in exposure and interaction with the public. Interactions with the Forest Service’s Instagram account increased by 70%, and one of the photos received the most likes of any Forest Service post in the last eight months. The Twitter account recorded more than 12,000 impressions a day on average during the takeover and introduced a hashtag to tie in future visits for the team to other regions of the nation.

“We wanted to showcase the natural beauty of this region and show that the resources devoted to preserving it are well-spent,” added Reho. “We wanted to show that GAOA is working, it’s making access to the region safer, more equitable and preserving it for generations to come.”

GAOA has provided the Forest Service new opportunities to deliver benefits to the American public through major investments in recreation infrastructure, public lands access, and land and water conservation. These investments improve outdoor recreation and contribute to economic growth and job creation in rural America.

“We are excited for the continued opportunities to collaborate on these large-scale GAOA projects,” said Michiko Martin, Regional Forester for the Southwestern Region. “I know that by working together we will build programs that can successfully execute and complete these new mission priorities.”

For more information about the Great American Outdoors Act, check out this story map.