- April 10th, 2013, President’s Budget Returns Oil and Gas Revenues to Land and Water Conservation, Boosting Tourism and Outdoor Recreation
- April 1, 2013, Local Elementary Students to Hand Deliver Thank You Notes for U.S. Senator’s Work to Protect Table Rocks, Oregon
- March 23, 2013, Senate Passes Budget that Returns Oil & Gas Revenues to Land and Water Conservation Fund
- March 13, 2013, LWCF Coalition Lauds Senate Budget for Commitment to Outdoor Economy, Ending Chronic Diversion of Conservation Funds
- March 7, 2013, LWCF Coalition Lauds Jewell for Commitment to Outdoor Economy
- February 14, 2013, Senators Introduce Bipartisian Bill to Renew and Improve Landmark Conservation Program
- February 6, 2013, LWCF Coalition Praises Nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior Secretary
- January 22, 2013, Statement from the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalitionon the Retirement of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
- September 26, 2012, Coalition Praises Senate Subcommittee for Proposal to Increase LWCF Conservation Funding
- July 3, 2012, Americans Support Land Conservation as Patriotic, Even as Congress Moves to Cut Funding
- June 28, 2012, LWCF Coalition Decries Efforts to Strip Conservation Funding From Final Transportation Bill
- June 25, 2012, Over 1,000 Groups Urge Congress to Fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund
- June 20, 2012, LWCF Coalition Applauds Senate for Resounding Defeat of Proposal to Strip Forest Conservation Funding
- June 20, 2012, House Appropriations Panel Slashes Land Conservation and Forest Programs
- March 8, 2012 Coalition Applauds Senate for Dedicated Conservation Funding
- February 13, 2012 Coalition Applauds President's Continued Support for Conservation Funding
- December 17, 2011 Conservation, Business and Sportsmen Groups Applaud Congressional Efforts to Protect LWCF Funding in FY12 Budget
- July 25, 2011- New Bipartisan Poll Shows Overwhelming Support Across America for Land and Water Conservation Fund
- July 13, 2011- National Bipartisan Poll Memo
- May 31, 2011- Over One-Third of the U.S. House of Representatives Sign Letter Supporting Funding for LWCF
- April 14, 2011- Conrad Anchor Testimony Release
- December 20, 2010 - Senate Urged to Join House and Pass Bill with Full Funding for Conservation Program »
- August 3, 2010 - Senate Urged to Join House and Pass Bill with Full Funding for Conservation Program »
- July 15, 2010 - House Committee Passes Bill Securing Funding for Conservation and Recreation Program »
- April 16, 2010 - America's Great Outdoors Conference Focuses on Need for Vital Land, Recreation Funding »
- February 1, 2010 - Obama's Budget Includes Key Funding for Land & Water »
- November 6, 2009 - Senate Bill Would Fulfill Longstanding Promise for Conservation and Recreation Program »
- September 17 , 2009 - Coalition Supports Conservation at House Hearing »
Zion National Park gets land donation to ward off development
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-zion-national-park-anonymous-donation-20121015,0,5780456.story
Imagine a McDonald's restaurant, a spread of new condos or a pizza joint despoiling the sweeping views at Utah’s Zion National Park. Well, park officials have taken another step to protect the national icon from private development, thanks to an anonymous $825,000 donation.
Park spokeswoman Alyssa Baltrus said that the 30 acres of private land at the base of Tabernacle Dome will be turned over to the National Park Service and saved from home-building. Preserving the area will also protect the red-rock views.
“We are extremely thankful to all that made this land donation possible,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “This land will help accomplish the original vision for Zion National Park – protecting the amazing geological formations and ecosystems within the boundaries approved by Congress.”
PHOTOS: Endangered historic places
The acquisition, arranged with the help of the Trust for Public Land and the National Parks Conservation Assn., is part of a larger effort to seal off the approximately 3,400 privately owned acres inside the park from potential development, Baltrus said.
"The entire integrity of the area there is what ends up being protected," she said.
Park officials and private groups have been left to do the work because government funding to gather these "inholdings" has dried up. Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund in 1964 to help acquire private lands surrounded by national parks. But Congress has fully funded the program only once, and House Republicans have recently tried to shrink it to about $66 million, down from about $300 million in previous years.
The donation comes amid a sense of urgency among conservationists and park officials, especially after the recent construction of a mansion on private land just 2 miles north of the newly acquired 30-acre parcel.
"There are lots of places to build large homes with great views, but national parks like Zion aren't one of them," Will Rogers, president of the Trust for Public Land, told the Salt Lake City Tribune.