President Donald Trump signed into law a major piece of legislation that preserves national parks and protects public lands on Tuesday.

The law allocates nearly $3 billion a year for projects that aim to protect public lands and national parks, following its overwhelming approval by both parties in the Congress.

According to Associated Press, the Great American Outdoors Act that Trump signed requires full permanent funding of the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). It tackles the maintenance backlog to protect public land and parks.

Trump signed the bill into law as he and other members of the GOP seek to increase conservation efforts ahead of the elections in November, reported The Hill.

During the signing, Trump said it was a "passage of truly landmark legislation that will preserve American's majestic natural wonders, priceless historic treasures ... grand national monuments and glorious national parks."

A White House release said the legislation "will benefit current and future generations of Americans."

In Reversal of the LWCF

Trump's support of the bill is a reversal to his past desire to cut the LWCF.

In his budget plans for the next fiscal year, Trump proposed to cut the LWCF by almost 97%. His administration also sought out big cuts to the LWCF based on budget proposals from past years.

In March, Trump announced his reversal to support the funding. In a tweet, he credited two senators for the law: Sen. Cory Gardner and Steve Daines, who are both Republicans up for reelection this fall.

Both senators are also running in races that are considered toss-ups. Holding either of the seats could be the key for Republicans to keep their senate majority.

In a New York Times report, Trump said people would start to think about the things the GOP has done for conservation and other fronts. He said he wanted people to think of "incredible things" coming from the party.

Convincing Trump

When asked how the senators convinced the president to support the measures, Gardner said in June that he and Daines met with Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell earlier this year.

According to him, the meeting must have lasted for "over an hour or so," and they talked about key components, how they worked, and how they were funded.

He added that, during the meeting, he showed a picture of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which Trump found beautiful.

In the meeting, both he and Haines pointed to a picture of former president Theodore Roosevelt and said, "this could be the biggest accomplishment going back to Teddy Roosevelt."

Trump said he was convinced "within about a minute," and he wasn't even convinced before he met with the two men.

The bill was cleared in both the House and the Senate by this summer. It had great support from Democrats in Congress, but there were no Democrats at the signing of the law. Trump also only gave credit to Republicans in his remarks.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said they were not in the signing because both parties are still in the process of agreeing on the virus relief payments.

Want to read more? Take a look at these!

US Nears 5 Million Virus Cases as COVID-19 Evolves into 'Behavioral Disease'
FDA: Keep Your Hands Clean, but Beware of These Harmful Sanitizers
Deaf Association Demands ASL Interpreters at COVID-19 Briefings