legislation with proxy coatings due to coronavirus. watch the house live on c-span, the senate today starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> tonight on "the communicators". federal communications commission or michael o'reilly. >> i think everyone is faced with different circumstances from the covid-19 pandemic. the communications network as a whole seems to be holding quite well and i don't like to promise anything or congratulate anybody too early so we will have to see if things hold but i'm pretty impressed where things are now. in terms of some of the connectivity issues and some of the work from home issues and certainly conferences being done through this medium is more likely to increase over time. i would not say it's the new normal but it is more this way then returning fully to the old-style.

>> tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on "the communicators" on c-span2. >> let's bring in an actual expert on this topic so we will turn to brian who is the chief executive officer of the property and environment research center. he will walk us through what happens with the great american outdoors act and he will tell us all the details that we need to know great brian, good morning. >> good morning. can you hear me? >> host: i can hear you just fine but thank you for being with us. first of all, no, go ahead. >> guest: greetings from those in montana which is the gateway to yellowstone national park. >> host: let me ask you this question because this is what people are wondering. the bills that the senatet was working on in the midst of everything going on in the country, the bill the senate was working on was the land and water conservation fund and the bill called the great american outdoor act c but what does this

bill do and why was it important for the senate to be working on it right now? >> guest: well, this is perhaps the most significant public land since conversation bill in a generation of time. the act really does two things. it provides $9.5 billion in funding over five years to fix our national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges by addressing a 20 billion-dollar maintenance backlog that is accumulated$2 tt has been allowed to came late over decades. the second thing is it provides full mandatory funding of the land and water conservation funds and that would be $900 million annually forever and ever and that program is used to buy for the federal government to buy conservation and provide matching grants toot

the state to promote outdoor recreation and dad log or that act and fund was created in 1964 primarily to facilitate outdoor recreation. >> host: now, you just mentioned that it would provide permanent funding for the land and water conservation fund. what type of funding was being used before and what is the difference between that and what you are calling from this? >> guest: good question, jesse. the act when it was created was authorized to send up to $900 million a year on outdoor recreation land acquisition state grants. through the history of the act only twice has congress actually appropriated $900 million for the land and water conservation fund. for over 50 years it has been somewhere probably on an average of $400 million a year so a lot

of conservation organizations and advocates have been pushing for years to have full funding and not have to rely annually on congressional appropriations so this particular legislation box in that $900 million in perpetuity. >> host: if they weren't putting the moneyey into the conservatin fund where was the money going? >> guest: oh gosh, congress was using that money probably for an array of other priorities and they are constantly trade-offs that they are having to face but it raises a good point jesse, that in relying on congress oftentimes you might get your priorities shifted. one of the areas we are very [inaudible] maintaining our nationalhe parks. congress has not done this over the years and it is not sexy to fix a leaking water pipe and a

national park or toy address overused toilets in the national parks but it is sexier to spend money to create a new national park. this legislation is great from our standpoint in that it really is addressing the need of our public land which is to fix and maintain and care for the lands we already ownth. >> host: since we have been in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic since the beginning of the year have they been able to work inside the national parks since there weren't many people there? or did things get worse because no one was there to maintain it? >> guest: no, i actually meant to touch and am close to the superintendent of yellowstone national park's and i do know they k were working on road projects there that were slated to gore and with the lack of visitors in the parks it probably helped give a little bit ahead of some of those constructions type projects and maintenance projects that they had to do.

>> host: let's let some of our viewers get involved with the conversation but once again i give you our lines for this conversation, if you are eastern or central time zone you want to hear from you at (202)748-8000, mountain of pacific, your number (202)748-8001 and especially if you have visited a national park recently we want to hear from you and know what you are saying out there, (202)748-8002, keep in mind you can always text us at (202)748-8003 and we are reading on social media, on twitter at c-span wj or facebook at facebook .com / c-span. before we go to our collars not everyone was a fan of the great outdoor american act and i wanted you to listen to senator mike lee from utah and what he says aboutah his concerns about the bill. here he is.

>> telling that the bill we are considering this week. a it's called the great american outdoors act, and it was written behind closed doors and is now being hermetically sealed, walled off from amendments by the people's elected representatives. forget the theatrics in seattle. this bill is the real capitol hill [inaudible] zone. in its current form this bill enables the federal government, if it is enacted, to purchase new lands in perpetuity without accountability, without oversight or any measures to make sure that it can care for a the land it owns, perpetuating and worsening or already highly problematic federal public lands policy. this policy will have one overarching impact to make life easier for politicians and

bureaucrats and harder for the american people who they absence of lease serve. mr. president, this is not the way the senate is supposed to run. >> host: respond to senator lee their. >> guest: well, senator lee actually has an interesting point especially after the states in the west. there is a little bit of a mixed message that comes with the great american outdoor act which is we have so many lands that we can't keep up with the maintenance backlog so let's add more land. i think that is what senator lee is expressing there. there are a number of states for the federal government owns the significant amount of land in the west in nevada, 80% of the land is owned by the federal governmentan and senator lee's home state 60% in excess of 60% is owned by the federal government. same in oregon and idaho and over 50% of wyoming and the concern that senator lee has is

eroding the tax base once the land gets in the federal ownership and there's no money for maintenance and we are very quick to add lands but not provide management or maintenance bonds and management is not the best management. i canes tell you here in montana one of our valleys here that accesses yellowstone national park, paradise valley, with the for the service land oftentimes without the resources and the ability to manage the weeds and build up grasses and they are not in good condition so they moved to the privately owned that attempt to be managed better andnd so i think that's what you are hearing from senator lee. it is a fair point. the west out here is an old west and a new west conflict that is occurring and there are states that are still reliant on

natural resources extraction and commodity eating economy and other states are leaning towards outdoor recreation amenity type economies and i thank you will see that in the great american outdoors act where a state like montana you will have both senators [inaudible] one republican, one democrat go for it but in utah you will have mike lee and mitt romney vote against it and in colorado you will have cory gardner and senator bennett vote for it and in wyoming the senators will vote against it and that's a reflection of the states and their sentiments on federal ownership. >> host: let's let our viewers enjoy this conversation but let's start with michael calling from texas. michael, good morning. >> caller: good morning, jesse and brian. do you hear me okay?

you are on speaker? >> host: we can hear you, go ahead. >> caller: just a set up. my wife and i are volunteers for the national parks service of the last two years we have traveled america and literally do camp posting maintenance. i've opened a museum here in salt flats at the guadalupe national park and i've got a unique view of how and what is needed and you can tell the first responders that you're in the state of time. i want to share with both of you and mostly the public that i've got a truckload of answers to questions already from the lady that asked about where does the money go? i could answer that very clearly and very simply and something that most people don't know how to say save to amend his money

and help the parks so -- >> host: really quickly, michael. >> guest: first thing, business. national park service plan called america the beautiful and it allows you to complete entrance into the national parks and monuments for a year and it literally costs $80. [inaudible] you go to the grand canyon and that right therehe allows you and one other adult in your car and children under 16 to get into every park free. it's $80 a year but it is free. that right there helps so you buy that and then that helps the grand canyon and --

[audio difficulties] >> guest: thank you for your work and the national parks. you bring up a good point. the structure they are in the process was set up by a law called the federal lands recreation enhancement act and as you said, jesse, early on that allowed superintendents to retain 80% of the fees in the park, 20% of those fees go back to the parks that don't charge fees. for example, the national mall of washington dc. 80% that stays in the park is a deitical tool for superintendents to address maintenance they are in the park because they have control over that money. they know what the priorities are and they know what the maintenance needs are. so, that's ane. important tool that is up for reauthorization by congress in september and should continue. congress should reauthorize it and they shouldau also look at explicitly allowing superintendents to actually set

the rate inside the park. the superintendents will know best what sort is the market rate that will enable them toso get resources to attract these critical needs without driving away visitors. they will find that sweet spots. let me give you an example of maybe disparity that is out there. this national park in canada which gets as many visitors as yellowstone, 4 million visitors a year, charges ten dollars a person per day or $20 a person per day to go into the park. yellowstone here in the united states with 4 million visitors charges $35 for a car and that lasts for seven days. there's a huge disparity. if you can fit ten people in a car for $35 and you are there for seven days which is a great bargain but it is a real challenge for superintendents

who have these critical needs who are trying to address enjoyment of the parksss. there is an art when you go into yellowstone national park, a big stone arch and the cornerstone was laid by president theodore roosevelt in 1903 and it says on top, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. part of the enjoyment of theop people is ensuring that people can access some of these amazing treasures and wonders and that the trails are open and campgrounds are open and bridges are functional and water systems are functional so we don't have pipes and waste leaking into the rivers of these parts. >> host: brian, we have a social media follower whoa has a question about the bill that i want you to answer. you've been looking forward to this segment this person says and he says are there any nuggets buried which will allow

federally purchased land to be exploited by fossil fuel and mining companies? what about military [inaudible] grounds? >> guest: i am not aware of anything in the act that would allow any kind of fossil fuel exploration but the caller brings up a really interesting point. the funding for both programs that i talked about, the maintenance fundsbo created at $9.5 billion and the permanent funding for lw cf, both of those are tethered to energy revenues so the sources for the programs or the leases, rents, royalty payments paid for offshore and onshore energy development which is good in concept because energy development would have impact -- >> washington journal d live everyday at 7:00 a.m. eastern. all the programs available on c-span .org and we leave this now and the u.s. senate gasoline and for the first time this week