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 »

Enjoy the great outdoors

VICKI ROCK Daily American Staff Writer

Somerset, PA —

Don and Jodi Brougher and their sons Stuart and Spencer enjoy snowsnoeing in the state parks.

“Don used to ski, but hasn’t since he was in an accident a year ago,” Jodi said. “We took up snowshoes are an alternative. It’s the easiest thing in the work.”

There are so many places to snowshoe in the state parks and forests that she doesn’t think that they’ve been on the same trail twice. It is easier than cross-country skiing, she said, and you don’t need someone to go ahead of you to break a trail. They carry emergency kits in backpacks.

“I like to take photos and I’m more mobile on snowshoes,” she said. “The key to enjoying winter here is to get off the couch. You have a choice — hate winter or embrace it. I went from hating snow to being a total winter-lover. We love it.”

The Broughers enthusiasm for the outdoors is echoed in the national America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. Last April, President Barack Obama charged the secretaries of the departments of the Interior and Agriculture, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality to partner with the American people to prepare a conservation and recreation agenda. The report of those public meetings was released last week.

“It’s not fattening,” David Yarnold, president and chief executive officer of Audubon, said in a press release. “It can change your mood in a minute. It can boost your IQ. And it can save the world. What is it? Spending time in nature.”

A key element cited in the report is the need to provide a network of places for Americans to get outside. Since 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has created a legacy of parks, playgrounds, recreational trails, and state and federal parks.

“The report sends a strong message on the importance of state and local park systems in fulfilling national recreation, health and conservation objectives,” Erik Kulleseid, director of the Alliance for New York State Parks, said in a prepared statement. “State and local park systems are in dire need of investment and support. We applaud the president for re-asserting federal leadership for the parks that Americans frequent daily.”