Vital tool for averting climate tragedies deserves full, permanent funding

WASHINGTON, November 19, 2019 ----The Wilderness Society strongly supports permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.  Today, the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee approved S.1081, which would provide permanent funding for LWCF.

Statement from Jonathan Asher, Director of Government Relations for Conservation Funding at The Wilderness Society

“The need to invest in conservation will only increase in the coming years as our growing population and changing climate strain public lands and other outdoor places. LWCF is the program that is already on the frontlines of providing opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors and at the same time protecting habitat and helping communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.

This program has delivered tremendous benefits even as half its funds remain unused. Right now there is a backlog of vitally important conservation projects that the Land and Water Conservation Fund can remedy, all at no expense to the taxpayer, including many that save taxpayer dollars by avoiding more expensive solutions later. Rather than continuing to handcuff our ability to address the conservation, recreation and climate needs we face, Congress needs to pass permanent, full funding for this program, which has a long tradition of strong, bipartisan support.”

Background

A bipartisan companion bill, H.R. 3195, was introduced in the House. Earlier this year Congress passed and the president signed a bill to permanently authorize the conservation program, which has invested in parks and recreation centers in virtually every county in the United States since the program was launched in 1965.

The bill ensures that the $900 million already being deposited annually into the LWCF account in the U.S. Treasury are used only for the intended purpose of conserving the nation’s natural, cultural and historic treasures. 

Over its history, LWCF has rarely been funded at its authorized amount, and often its funds are diverted for other purposes. Since the creation of the program in the 1960s, about $22 billion intended for the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been siphoned off for non-conservation purposes.

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Contacts

Jonathan Asher, Director of Government Relations, Conservation Funding

The Wilderness Society | The Wilderness Society Action Fund

202-713-7201, jonathan_asher@tws.org

Michael Reinemer, 202-429-3949, michael_reinemer@tws.org