For 2nd Time In 3 Years, Congress Allows Land & Water Conservation Fund To Expire
The Republican-controlled Congress allowed the country’s most popular parks program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to expire Sunday. The lapse threatens access to public lands and water and leaves many potential projects in limbo.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund is the most successful land conservation program in our nation’s history. Congress’s inability to prevent its expiration is a stunning failure and a betrayal of more than a half century of broad bipartisan support,” Colin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said in a statement. “America’s wildlife heritage, outdoor recreation opportunities and public lands are the envy of the world and drive our $887 billion recreation economy.”
The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides funding to protect parks, forests, cultural heritage sites, and water resources, at zero expense to taxpayers. The fund, which is paid for through revenues from offshore drilling, was passed in 1964 and has financed projects in all 50 states.
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With the lapse of the fund, the authority to carry out current LWCF projects remains authorized, but any new revenue from offshore drilling stops going into the fund, meaning new and upcoming projects will likely not have funding to proceed. The Center for Western Priorities estimates that with this lapse in funding, at least 318,000 acres of deserving lands are at risk of being lost to development. The LWCF is authorized to receive $900 million in revenue each year, but year after year Congress has shortchanged the fund, leaving it with about half of what is promised. This is the second time in three years that Congress has allowed the program to expire.
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https://thinkprogress.org/congressional-republicans-zinke-allow-countrys-most-successful-conservation-program-to-expire-c2dc46eff642/
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