We Need Your Help
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We must urge for the Land and Water Conservation Fund to be a congressional top priority this year. This is our opportunity to finally fulfill the broken promise to Americans and fully fund LWCF- but we need your help.
Please Support LWCF in the Transportation Bill Debate- Sign Your Organization onto the:
Statement of Support for LWCF!!
(Click HERE for downloading and sharing the statement) or read statement below.
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Please Support LWCF in Transportation Package:
Sign-On Statement
As a broad coalition of sportsmen, business, recreation, historic preservation and conservation leaders concerned with America's outdoor heritage, we express our strong support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provision included in the Senate-passed Transportation bill. This provision, which was approved on the Senate floor with an overwhelming 76 bipartisan votes, directly addresses several of the most urgent conservation, access and funding problems facing American hunters and anglers, outdoor businesses, and recreationists today at the same time that it provides for state and local recreation projects, working forest and ranching easements and protection of our unique American history. As the Transportation conference between the House and Senate proceeds, we strongly urge that the LWCF amendment passed in the Senate is included in the final legislation.
LWCF represents a promise that was made to the American people almost 50 years ago to take the proceeds from natural resource development in our nation’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and invest a small portion of those dollars in conservation and outdoor recreation. It is an incredibly successful bipartisan program that, in its nearly five decades of existence, has touched all fifty states and nearly every county in America. Despite that success, however, the central promise of LWCF has remained largely unfulfilled-- almost every year in its half-century of existence, only about one-third of LWCF’s authorized funding has actually been directed to its intended conservation purpose. Every part of the LWCF program is oversubscribed, with the demand for state and local recreational needs, access for sportsmen, working lands opportunities and conservation driven by strong local support far exceeding the funds that have been available.
The Senate-passed amendment represents a critical opportunity to begin addressing the backlog of unmet needs this diversion has created, and build a solid base of state, local and national recreation as well as conservation funding in the short-term while we continue working toward a permanent fix. As a reminder:
· LWCF is already paid for – without using a single taxpayer dollar. Every year, $900 million is deposited into LWCF from the many billions of dollars the Treasury collects from offshore oil drilling and other federal energy revenue sources. Congress created LWCF with a simple idea in mind: when we sell oil and gas that belongs to all Americans, at least a small portion of the proceeds should be reinvested in something of lasting value for us all. NO tax dollars or other general revenues are used for LWCF.
· The LWCF Provision Expands Recreation Access for Hunting, Fishing, and Other Public Use. LWCF is essential to make public lands public by securing recreation access, particularly where opportunities for sportsmen and others to access public lands are limited or precluded. Language in the Senate bill that is strongly supported by sportsmen ensures a sustained commitment to resolving access issues long after the bill’s two-year term. The Senate LWCF provision opens more land to the public.
· LWCF also provides critical funding to states for state and local park needs as well as funding for the Forest Legacy Program, which allows for working lands easements keeping jobs in the woods throughout the country.
• LWCF supports a vibrant and important part of our nation’s economy. The Senate-passed amendment ensures continued investments in the economic asset that our federal, state and local public lands represent. The parks, trails, forests, wildlife refuges, battlefields, historic sites, and working lands sustained by LWCF funding support an outdoor recreation and tourism sector that contributes a total of $1.06 trillion annually to the American economy, supporting 9.4 million jobs (1 out of every 15 jobs in the U.S.).
We are well aware that difficult choices must be made in this time of fiscal austerity. As we measure those choices based on their effects on America’s people, communities, and economy, the need for sustained investments through LWCF is clear. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has long been supported in a bipartisan fashion with important oversight provided by Congress through the Appropriations Committees. As Congress considers how best to meet our nation’s infrastructure needs, we urge inclusion of the LWCF provision in the final transportation bill as an historic step forward to provide this country with the critical recreation infrastructure necessary for strong economic growth.
The President's Budget for FY13 has been relased- $450 million for LWCF. To check out the LWCF Projects click below:
National Park Service FY13 LWCF Projects
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service FY13 LWCF Projects
Forest Service FY 13 LWCF Projects
Forest Legacy FY13 LWCF Projects
Collaborative Landscape Planning Projects FY 13
SENATE TRANSPORTATION BILL- PASSED WITH LWCF AMENDMENT!!
The Senate passed its Surface Transportation bill today by a very strong bipartisan vote 74-22 which included the LWCF provision we worked to include. With that Senate hurdle cleared (for now), we must turn our attention to the House who will work on the Transportation bill again next week.
It is still unclear whether the House will take up the Senate’s bill and attempt to amendment it and pass it, or whether they will offer their own alternative. In either case, we need our House champions to be aware of how important it is to preserve the LWCF provisions included in the Senate Transportation bill. As you are working to sign more House members onto our dear colleague and thanking those who have already signed, please be reaching out to them with the message below.
Click here for Economic Benefits and Outdoor Recreation Talking Points for LWCF
LWCF Activist Plan! Click here for in-district actions you can take this summer!
Ideas and Resources for Creating the Ultimate Op-Ed or LTE! Click Here!
This week, the Senate passed S. 1813, a long-awaited transportation and infrastructure funding package. The hard work of many Senators resulted in the inclusion of a critical conservation provision in this legislation: $700 million annually for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) over the next two years, as well as reauthorization of the program through 2022. Please support the preservation of these LWCF provisions, and oppose any attempts to strip them out of the transportation bill as it moves through the legislative process in the House of Representative and is considered by the conference committee.
· The Nelson (FL)-Shelby-Landrieu amendment to the Senate transportation bill sought to honor our commitment to conserve key conservation areas, working lands and recreation areas across America AND to restore the vital ecology and economy of the Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon spill-- without spending ANY taxpayer dollars. The RESTORE Act/LWCF amendment passed the Senate last week by a vote of 76-22.
· This strong bipartisan consensus depends on the preservation of these provisions as the bill moves forward. The important oversight role of the Appropriations Committees in allocating LWCF funds among its various programs each year would be retained. The amendment does not use any penalties from the Deepwater Horizon spill, which are directed by the RESTORE Act to the Gulf Coast states, for the purpose of funding LWCF.
· The amendment provides $1.4 billion in dedicated revenue to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) over the next two years while extending its authorization until 2022. LWCF's revenue comes directly from the royalties paid by oil and gas companies drilling on our nation's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), of which $900 million annually has been directed to LWCF since its enactment nearly half a century ago.
· The amendment further provides that 1.5% of LWCF revenue be utilized for further investments in ensuring recreational access to existing public lands - making public lands public - for hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists
· LWCF is based on an unassailable logic: when the federal government sells the finite irreplaceable OCS resources we all own, it should reinvest at least a portion of the proceeds from that sale into the dwindling irreplaceable open spaces and recreational opportunities we all need. Yet nearly every year, the majority of LWCF funds are diverted to other unrelated purposes-more than $17 billion over the history of the program. The oil and gas industry is paying into LWCF but these funds are not being used for their intended conservation purposes.
· The Nelson (FL)-Shelby-Landrieu amendment passed by the Senate takes the first step toward correcting this broken promise and restoring honest budgeting principles to our nation's premier conservation funding tool. By dedicating some of the offshore oil revenue that will be deposited into LWCF over the next two years but otherwise will again be raided for other purposes, it sets an important precedent for the stability and success of LWCF now and in the future.
· LWCF has a nearly 50 year history of bipartisan support and has been utilized in every state and county in the country as a critical tool to acquire inholdings, expand public lands, and protect national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, wild and scenic river corridors, national scenic and historic trails, the Bureau of Land Management lands, and other federal areas.
· LWCF also provides matching grants to states for state and local parks, as well as for working lands and wildlife habitat protection, ensuring close-to-home access to recreation, the protection of state and local natural resource areas for hunting and fishing, and support for local economic growth.
· There is no doubt that the need to stimulate our economy, create jobs and shore up our infrastructure through reauthorization the Transportation bill is considerable. LWCF makes a substantial contribution to these critical priorities, and any diversion of funds away from LWCF undermines the economic asset that our federal, state and local public lands represent.
o Hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor recreation activities contribute a total of $730 billion annually to the economy, supporting 6.5 million jobs (1 of every 20 jobs in the U.S.)
o When combined with the broader conservation, outdoor recreation and historic preservation sectors, this economic contribution rises to $1.06 trillion annually, supporting 9.4 million jobs.
o Whether manufacturing, retail or service related, most of these jobs are sustainable resource or tourism-based jobs and cannot be exported, with magnified impacts in local and rural communities.
o LWCF drives local economies not just by helping recreation lands to keep up with population and development pressure, but creates and protects jobs in our working forests and on working farms and ranches.
The Transportation bill passed by the Senate on March 8th (S. 1813) contains a critical provision for land conservation and outdoor recreation. Among the bill's diverse infrastructure investments is a provision strengthening the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), included through an amendment that garnered an overwhelming 76 bipartisan aye votes on the Senate floor. Specifically, S. 1813:
* ensures that $700 million of annual deposits into LWCF are used for their intended purposes over the next two years
* permanently commits 1.5% of LWCF to "making public lands public" projects that provide public access for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation; and
* reauthorizes the successful decades-old LWCF program through 2022.
Now that this bill is headed for House-Senate conference, it is essential that the LWCF language included in the Senate bill remains intact in final Transportation legislation. Here are the facts about LWCF:
* LWCF is fully paid for, without relying on tax dollars. Every year, $900 million is deposited into LWCF from the many billions of dollars the Treasury collects from offshore oil drilling and other federal energy revenue sources. LWCF reinvests these revenues from the sale of our national resources into future resources for all Americans-- asset for asset, honoring the principles of fiscal conservatism.
* The Senate LWCF provision opens more land to the public and includes a provision for "making public lands public". The Senate language amends LWCF so that a portion of LWCF spending each year, in perpetuity, will be utilized to ensure recreational access to existing public lands for hunters, anglers and other outdoor recreationists. Language in the Senate bill that is strongly supported by sportsmen ensures a sustained commitment to resolving access issues long after the bill's two-year term.
* The Senate LWCF provision funds only willing-seller conservation. The Senate language guarantees that any land purchase under the bill - as is typically the case for LWCF purchases - will be from willing sellers. This provides the freedom for landowners who need to sell their properties to see those lands conserved for public use. Providing LWCF funds honors their property rights as willing sellers, including their rights to fair compensation, and their public-spirited intent as landowners. The Senate language explicitly ensures that property rights will be respected and that landowners will be treated fairly.
* Over the decades, LWCF has evolved to meet changing conservation needs and provide flexibility to states and local communities to achieve their economic and recreational goals. Through the Forest Legacy Program and through new kinds of conservation areas like the Dakota Grasslands, an increasing proportion of LWCF money is used for the purchase of conservation easements in which working landscapes are maintained under private ownership. Federal land acquisition projects, additionally, are often part of state and locally driven projects.
* The Senate provision also retains the oversight role of Congress and the ability of the Appropriations Committee to direct dollars to the particular programs where they are most urgently needed. Each year annual LWCF funding is allocated by Congress to several conservation programs, including grants to states for outdoor recreation, working forest conservation and wildlife protection as well as acquisition of inholdings and priority lands by federal land management agencies. The Senate language keeps that discretion and Congress's rightful authority.
* LWCF is based on an unassailable logic: when the federal government sells the finite irreplaceable OCS resources we all own, it should reinvest at least a portion of the proceeds from that sale into the dwindling irreplaceable open spaces and recreational opportunities we all need. Yet nearly every year, the majority of LWCF funds are diverted to other unrelated purposes-more than $17 billion over the history of the program. The oil and gas industry is paying into LWCF but these funds are not being used for their intended conservation purposes.
* The LWCF language adopted by the Senate takes an important step toward correcting this broken promise and restoring honest budgeting principles to our nation's premier conservation funding tool. By dedicating some of the offshore oil revenue that will be deposited into LWCF over the next two years but otherwise would again be raided for other purposes, it sets an important precedent for the stability and success of LWCF now and in the future.
* LWCF has a nearly 50 year history of bipartisan support and has been utilized in every state and county in the country as a critical tool to create state and local outdoor recreation opportunities, acquire inholdings and protect critical lands in national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, wild and scenic river corridors, national scenic and historic trails, Civil War battlefields, the Bureau of Land Management lands, and other federal areas.
* LWCF also provides matching grants to states for state and local parks, as well as for working lands and wildlife habitat protection, ensuring close-to-home access to recreation, the protection of state and local natural resource areas for hunting and fishing, and support for local economic growth.
* Enactment of the Transportation bill will stimulate our nation's economy, create jobs and shore up our infrastructure. LWCF makes a substantial contribution to these critical priorities by strategically securing the economic asset that our federal, state and local public lands represent:
Ø Hunting, fishing, camping, and other outdoor recreation activities contribute a total of $730 billion annually to the economy, supporting 6.5 million jobs (1 of every 20 jobs in the U.S.)
Ø When combined with the broader conservation, outdoor recreation and historic preservation sectors, this economic contribution rises to $1.06 trillion annually, supporting 9.4 million jobs.
Ø Whether manufacturing, retail or service related, most of these jobs are sustainable resource or tourism-based jobs and cannot be exported, with magnified impacts in local and rural communities.
Ø LWCF drives local economies not just by helping recreation lands to keep up with population and development pressure, but creates and protects jobs in our working forests and on working farms and ranches.
Keep the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provision
Senate Transportation bill
Click Here for a Printable Factsheet for the Transporation Talking Points
As a broad coalition of sportsmen, business, recreation, historic preservation and conservation leaders concerned with America's outdoor heritage, we express our strong support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provision included in the Senate-passed Transportation bill. This provision, which was approved on the Senate floor with an overwhelming 76 bipartisan votes, directly addresses several of the most urgent conservation, access and funding problems facing American hunters and anglers, outdoor businesses, and recreationists today at the same time that it provides for state and local recreation projects, working forest and ranching easements and protection of our unique American history. As the Transportation conference between the House and Senate proceeds, we strongly urge that the LWCF amendment passed in the Senate is included in the final legislation.
LWCF represents a promise that was made to the American people almost 50 years ago to take the proceeds from natural resource development in our nation’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and invest a small portion of those dollars in conservation and outdoor recreation. It is an incredibly successful bipartisan program that, in its nearly five decades of existence, has touched all fifty states and nearly every county in America. Despite that success, however, the central promise of LWCF has remained largely unfulfilled-- almost every year in its half-century of existence, only about one-third of LWCF’s authorized funding has actually been directed to its intended conservation purpose. Every part of the LWCF program is oversubscribed, with the demand for state and local recreational needs, access for sportsmen, working lands opportunities and conservation driven by strong local support far exceeding the funds that have been available.
· LWCF is already paid for – without using a single taxpayer dollar. Every year, $900 million is deposited into LWCF from the many billions of dollars the Treasury collects from offshore oil drilling and other federal energy revenue sources. Congress created LWCF with a simple idea in mind: when we sell oil and gas that belongs to all Americans, at least a small portion of the proceeds should be reinvested in something of lasting value for us all. NO tax dollars or other general revenues are used for LWCF.
· The Senate LWCF Provision Funds Only Willing-Seller Conservation. The Senate language guarantees that any land purchase under the bill – as is typically the case for LWCF purchases – will be from willing sellers. Across America, landowners needing to sell their properties want to see those lands conserved for public use. Providing LWCF funds honors their property rights as willing sellers, including their rights to fair compensation, and their public-spirited intent as landowners. The Senate language explicitly ensures that property rights will be respected and that landowners will be treated fairly.
· The LWCF Provision Expands Recreation Access for Hunting, Fishing, and Other Public Use. LWCF is essential to make public lands public by securing recreation access, particularly where opportunities for sportsmen and others to access public lands are limited or precluded. Language in the Senate bill that is strongly supported by sportsmen ensures a sustained commitment to resolving access issues long after the bill’s two-year term. The Senate LWCF provision opens more land to the public.
· LWCF also provides critical funding to states for state and local park needs as well as funding for the Forest Legacy Program, which allows for working lands easements keeping jobs in the woods throughout the country.
We are well aware that difficult choices must be made in this time of fiscal austerity. As we measure those choices based on their effects on America’s people, communities, and economy, the need for sustained investments through LWCF is clear. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has long been supported in a bipartisan fashion with important oversight provided by Congress through the Appropriations Committees. As Congress considers how best to meet our nation’s infrastructure needs, we urge inclusion of the LWCF provision in the final transportation bill as an historic step forward to provide this country with the critical recreation infrastructure necessary for strong economic growth.