Kent Wimmer: Completing the Florida Trail!

The Gainsville Sun 

Friday, June 3, 2011 at 9:19 a.m.

At a recent trip to Washington, D.C., I spoke with nine members of the Florida Congressional Delegation and the USDA Forest Service about the importance of protecting open space and providing trails in Florida and across the country. Like other organizations, it’s understood the government’s budget needs to be put on a diet and tough decisions have to be made. Despite cuts in budget, the Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST) still needs funding. It can be supported through the federal government’s primary tool to conserve land, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The LWCF is a well established and run program essential to completion of the FNST. It is a smart choice as Congress develops a budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1.

Since 1965, the LWCF has directed more than $900 million in Florida for federal land acquisition and state and local park development. This funding has permanently protected nearly 29 miles of the FNST (more than 4660 acres in 49 tracts) in central Florida, along the Suwannee River, in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Apalachicola National Forest, along Econfina Creek and Nokuse Plantation, in the western panhandle. The LWCF has also helped protect the Ocala National Forest, Big Cypress National Preserve and the Everglades National Park.

The Florida Trail Association, the USDA Forest Service and our agency partners will not be able to complete the FNST and eliminate roadwalks without funding from the LWCF to acquire land. FTA has asked Congress to provide $1.5 million to the USDA Forest Service to acquire land to protect 25 critical segments (3 miles on 524.4 acres) to complete the trail along the Suwannee River before these tracts are developed for residences or converted to agriculture.

LWCF is not from tax dollars, but instead from funding collected from oil and gas companies when they lease federally managed areas in offshore waters. Every year about $900 million of that money is supposed to be reinvested to provide close-to-home places for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, most of the money that is allocated for that purpose is diverted by Congress to be spent elsewhere.

Offshore waters are critical to our economy because they bring in out-of-state revenue and include active outdoor recreation participants so that Florida residents may enjoy close-to-home parks. Each year, about 2.8 million sportspersons and about 4.2 million wildlife watchers spend about $8.1 billion on wildlife-associated recreation in Florida. Active outdoor recreation contributes about $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy, supports about 6.4 million American jobs (1 out of every 20 jobs in the U.S.) and stimulates 8 percent of all consumer spending, according to the Outdoor Industry Association.

Even through fundraising and conservation efforts, LWCF is in jeopardy once again. Congress recently cut the program’s budget to one-third of its original figure. The House of Representatives said that little amount is not a deep enough cut and proposes to eliminate it altogether. The Senate has not decided their view and we may still have the opportunity to protect this program that has done so much for our state.

With a program that is supposed to have a dedicated revenue stream and federal government passing several monetary cut-backs, we understand the need for a budget cut. Even though the budget cut is understood as necessary, LWCF is suffering and should not be terminated all together. Giving LWCF the support it is supposed to have could potentially create tens of thousands of recreation jobs in our communities each year. In a time of tight budgets and trying to figure out how to best spend money for the long term, LWCF is the kind of program that should be encouraged. Congress should do all it can to protect the small pot of non-tax money that goes into LWCF, meaning opportunities critical to outdoor recreation economy are not lost forever.

While in Washington, D.C., I can only hope our congressional delegation understood how important the program is and will vote in favor to include LWCF funding in the next federal budget.

For the past 12 years, Kent Wimmer has served as the Florida Trail Association’s liaison for the Florida National Scenic Trail coordinating its planning, construction, management and protection. Wimmer is President of the Partnership for the National Trails System and Chair of the Florida Greenways and Trails Council.