A broad coalition of national, state and local conservation and recreation organizations thanked House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall today and urged Committee members to maintain full and permanent funding for land conservation and outdoor recreation in their sweeping energy bill.
The Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009 includes provisions that would annually fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at its authorized level of $900 million. At that level, the beleaguered program would be able to proactively address backlogged conservation and recreation needs at the state and federal level.
The fund has only received its authorized amount of $900 million once and posted a low of $155 million in 2008. As a result, there is a substantial backlog of federal land acquisition needs estimated at more than $30 billion. The states also report a huge unmet need for local parks and recreation resources totaling more than $27 billion in eligible projects.
“Billions of dollars are collected every year from existing offshore oil and gas leasing revenues the designated revenue stream for LWCF and yet that money is regularly diverted for other purposes,” stated Will Rogers, President and CEO of The Trust for Public Land. “The bill discussed in the House Natural Resources Committee today would set that right and ensure this important program gets its due. On behalf of the coalition, we thank Chairman Rahall for his leadership to restore LWCF funding to help communities protect and enhance their most cherished places.”
The LWCF program also includes an important state matching grants component that supports state and local parks. The state grants help develop park facilities and recreational amenities creating jobs and supporting the quality-of-life factors that allow communities to attract employers and a strong work force. Whether it is close-to-home ball fields or trails, large expansive wilderness areas, or important wildlife habitat, connecting people to recreation and outdoors activity promotes good health and support local economies.
“The outdoor industry has long held a goal of ensuring every child in America has access to a trail or park within one mile of their home. Many studies show that this type of commitment to our nation's recreation infrastructure would easily pay for itself in the resulting reduction in health care costs and the increase in the mental well-being of our children,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president of Outdoor Industry Association.
Outdoor recreation contributes a total of $730 billion annually to the economy, supporting 6.5 million jobs (1 of every 20 jobs in the U.S.).
