A report by the Outdoor Resources Review Group urged the federal government to substantially increase its spending on outdoor recreation and conservation. At least $3.2 billion a year — up from current funding of about $255 million — is required to conserve and protect the nation's outdoor heritage including parks, wildlife refuges and open space, the group says.
“In the near term, funding at this level is admittedly a difficult request,” the group said in a report released Monday. “Without additional funding, however, there is little chance” to adequately protect the nation's lands and waterways.
The report called wildlife, parks, forests, farms, ranchlands and historic places “central to the nation's economy, health and quality of life,” but increased funding would also help spur job growth, improve health and wellness, create energy and battle global climate change.
The report by the bipartisan panel-made up of elected officials and conservationists-also calls for creation of a nationwide system of “blueways” and water trails to improve water-related recreation opportunities. The water trails would be established through public-private partnerships among federal, state and local agencies, local groups and private landowners.
The report also said Congress should consider turning the Interior Department's Land and Water Conservation Fund — which is the main mechanism for federal and state acquisition of park and recreation land — into an independent trust funded by royalties from the development of conventional and renewable energy on public lands.
The report by the Outdoor Resources Review Group is the first major assessment of the nation's outdoor resources since a 1987 report by the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors during the Reagan Administration. It builds on the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Campaign of 1962.
