Two weeks ago in a letter to President Bush, 78 executives from OIA member-companies asked for full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Urban Parks and Recreation Restoration Program. Both programs are designed to help states, cities and towns provide recreation experiences and healthy lifestyle options to all Americans.

The letter apparently fell on deaf ears, at least in the White House. In the President’s recent budget proposal, he recommended the elimination of the LWCF. UPARR has not been funded for several years. During his first presidential campaign, President Bush pledged to fully fund LWCF.

Frank Hugelmeyer, president of OIA, told BOSS that the Capital Summit, an annual gathering of Outdoor Industry executives in Washington D.C., is going to be a major step towards procuring funding for these programs from congress.
A recent survey by the Department of the Interior found that the combined demand of the 50 states to develop recreation parks and facilities was $836,229,911. OIA is asking that the federal government fund the LWCF at $450 million per year an UPARR at $100 million.

Myrna Johnson, OIA VP of Government Affairs, said that President Bush has emphasized cooperative programs, and OIA feels that the LWCF and UPARR should fall into the scope of this.

Looking forward, Johnson said they really have three main steps to take. First, OIA will ask the executives who signed the original letter to The President to send a second, similar letter to their Senators and Representatives. Second, OIA will target the appropriations committees in charge of allocating funds to these programs; and third, OIA will ask the members of congress who originally sponsored the Get Outdoors and Americans Outdoors Acts to renew their efforts.
OIA will be leveraging its members as part of the business community throughout all three steps.

“One of the primary themes of the President’s budget is making government more effective through cooperative partnerships,” said Hugelmeyer. “Since 1964, LWCF has developed 40,000 parks throughout the nation through a highly effective federal-state partnership, with states providing at least 50% of the funds. By zeroing out LWCF, the President is taking away one of the most effective cooperative partnerships we have to combat the obesity and inactivity crises.”