Saving The Land and Water Conservation Fund

A bi-partisan energy bill released by Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senator Murkowski (R-AK) includes PERMANENT reauthorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

To keep momentum for the bill going, our legislators need to hear from us!

• Please contact  Senator Cantwell and thank her for her leadership on this issue, 
• Let Senator Murray know why LWCF is important to you
• Drop your congressional representative a note highlighting the importance of public lands and the LWCF here in Washington.

If passed, the bill will secure funding for federal investments in national parks and forests, as well as support for state grant programs that fund working forests, local and state parks, and conservation projects important for hiking, camping, hunting  and other recreation. Without Congressional action, the program will expire this September 30. 

We thank Senator Cantwell for her bi-patrician work as ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, along with Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, for championing this issue.   

• The bill permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund and specifies the way in which funds may be allocated, adding two new set-asides: one for hunting, fishing, or other recreational purposes and another for recreation and conservation programs important to states.
• In making federal land acquisitions, the Secretaries shall consider conservation easements and are required to take into account certain considerations in determining which land or interests in land to acquire.
• The bill also establishes a National Park Service Critical Maintenance and Revitalization Conservation Fund to address high-priority deferred maintenance needs of the National Park Service, with a prohibition on the use of funds for land acquisition.
• Lastly the bill permanently reauthorizes the Historic Preservation Fund.

Did you know the LWCF has contributed more than half a billion dollars to Washington State?

It has helped protect the Mount Si Conservation Area, Olympic National Park, Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Mount Rainier National Park, North Cascades National Park, the Pacific Crest Trail, and hundreds more. Washington’s vibrant outdoor recreation scene would not be what it is today without the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Now that the bill has been introduced, our legislators need to hear from you to keep momentum moving.

Personal stories of why our public lands are important to you help legislators put ‘people’ into bills and help them talk about why a certain issue is important to their constituents.

Please take the time to 

• Thank Senator Cantwell for her leadership on this issue,
• Let Senator Murray know why LWCF is important to you ,
• Drop your congressional representative a note highlighting the importance of public lands and the LWCF here in Washington. Your voice truly makes a difference!