FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY PROJECTS
Within the current boundaries of our national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and many other public lands units, there is still a great deal of privately owned land. While not all of this land can or should be acquired, many such inholdings are critically important to enhance public access to recreation and/or to protect natural or cultural resources. LWCF provides funds for agency purchases of property in fee or using permanent conservation easements from willing sellers, which protect against incompatible uses while also allowing private owners to continue traditional land-based activities like forestry and agriculture. These are not traditional grant programs but rather funding that is directed to the federal agencies for acquisition through their internal and individual processes, each serving the agency’s unique mission and goals.
Agency personnel at the local and regional level work - often with local partners - to identify pressing needs and conservation opportunities, elevating projects to the national level for prioritization according to set criteria, resulting in national rankings included in the president’s budget proposal each fiscal year. Congress then decides upon a set level of LWCF appropriations for each agency, enabling certain projects to proceed.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
- Project is inside or adjacent to a federal unit boundary, such as a National Park, National Wildlife Refuge, or National Recreation Area.
- Positive relationships with federal agency personnel at the local/regional/national level.
- Local Support: projects are locally driven, so building support from the ground up among community stakeholders and local land managers is crucial to success.
- Willing seller landowners.
- Project meets federal Yellow Book appraisal standards.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF FEDERAL LWCF PROJECTS
- Core Project List
- Each year the agencies publish their “Core List” of priority LWCF projects that have been ranked at the local, regional, and national level. These projects are sent to Congress and printed in each agency’s budget justification.
- FY22 Core Project Lists:
- Recreational Access Account
- This funding account is used by the federal agencies to acquire small parcels of land that are important to provide recreational opportunities, including hunting and fishing. This account allows the agencies to use funds quickly, on an as-needed basis throughout the fiscal year.
- Inholdings, Donations, and Exchanges
- The agencies utilize this funding account to purchase units within designated unit boundaries from willing sellers. This account is used as opportunities arise for acquisitions on an as-needed basis throughout the fiscal year.
- Emergencies, Hardships, and Relocations
- The agencies use this, or similar LWCF funding accounts, to support acquisition where a landowner within a unit boundary is experiencing hardship or where a management emergency may be addressed through land acquisition.
Past Funded Projects
For questions on the different project types or to inquire about working with the agency on a particular project please contact the relevant agency below. These national agency contacts are helpful, but projects are locally driven, so make sure to also contact the supervisor of the federal unit where the project would take place.
Federal Land Management Agencies
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) utilizes LWCF funding to protect land at our national parks, seashores, lakeshores, and recreation areas; national historical parks and historic sites; national battlefields and military parks; and the national trails system.
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) utilizes LWCF funding to conserve land within its system of national conservation lands including national monuments, national recreation areas, areas of critical environmental concern, and special recreation management areas.
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) utilizes LWCF funding for conservation within national wildlife refuges, hatcheries, and other FWS areas, and to acquire easements for the purpose of protecting wildlife habitat on privately owned lands in designated conservation areas.
U.S FOREST SERVICE
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) utilizes LWCF funding to protect land within our national forests and national grasslands.
Process used by the land management agencies to select LWCF Projects.
Top Photo: Bandelier National Monument, Credit: NPS