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LWCF
funds have been used to acquire land for the Santa Monica Mountains
National Recreation Area in California. (NPS)
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Contact
Policy
Director Jim DiPeso (253-740-2066) / Government Affairs Director
David Jenkins (703-785-9570)
Green Elephant Line Media
Backgrounder
The Best Land
Protection That Money Can Buy
March 23, 2010
How often does Congress have a
chance to boost an effective government program that doesn't cost much,
enjoys bipartisan support, and has delivered tangible, measurable
benefits to Americans in all 50 states, from small towns to big cities,
for more than a generation?
A bipartisan group of congressmen is seeking greater support for the
Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The fund has done more to
protect open space and expand outdoor recreation opportunities than any
other federal program in America history.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund was the brainchild of an advisory
commission appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958 and
headed up by Laurance S. Rockefeller. Congress authorized the fund in
1964, by a voice vote in the House and a 92-1 vote in the Senate.
The fund supports both federal land acquisition on a willing-seller
basis and matching grants that states and localities can use to expand
open space and recreation, from neighborhood ball fields to backcountry
wilderness trails. Since the fund’s establishment, it has conserved
more than 7.6 million acres of land for parks, forests, and recreation.
The LWCF grant program has made possible more than 41,000 local
recreation projects.
The primary LWCF funding source is royalty revenue from oil and gas
production in federal waters offshore. The annual authorized funding
level is $900 million, but only once since 1980 has Congress
appropriated the full authorized amount.
A bipartisan group in the House, including Republicans Peter King of
New York and Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, thinks it's time to boost
support for this effective, popular program. They are asking House
appropriators to approve $425 million for federal land acquisitions in
fiscal year 2011 and $175 million for state LWCF grants, plus an
additional $150 million for the Forest Legacy program, which supports
private forest conservation.
Open space protection is not a frill to be indulged only in good
economic times. As the bipartisan group points out, protected open
space is an economic driver, stimulating tourism and outdoor recreation
that contributes billions of dollars annually to local and regional
economies. The availability of nearby open space is part of the
equation that businesses consider when looking for desirable places to
build or relocate their facilities.
In addition, acquiring land from willing sellers would help dampen the
escalating costs of putting out wildfires. As development sprawls into
wildlands that are naturally prone to burning and are difficult to
protect from fire, the budgets of federal land management agencies are
being devoured by firefighting costs. Between 2002 and 2006, the
federal government spent $6 billion putting out fires threatening
private development bordering public lands. Expanding LWCF acquisitions
in the backcountry would create buffers that protect private property
and lessen the need for costly, aggressive wildfire suppression.
Protected open space also is a low-cost way of protecting drinking
water supplies through wetlands and forest conservation. National
forests alone provide clean water worth $4.3 billion per year.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a program that has delivered
lasting value to America. Congress should take the advice of King,
Gerlach, and other House members from both parties seeking a funding
boost for LWCF, so that it can deliver its full promise to the nation.
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