We Need Your Help
Follow us on twitter: @lwcfcoalition
We must urge for the Land and Water Conservation Fund to be a congressional top priority this year. This is our opportunity to finally fulfill the broken promise to Americans and fully fund LWCF- but we need your help.
We Need Your Help!
Tell the Obama Administration to:
Provide Full, Permanent and Dedicated Funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)!
Click here for Economic Benefits and Outdoor Recreation Talking Points for LWCF
New! LWCF Activist Plan! Click here for in-district actions you can take this summer!
Ideas and Resources for Creating the Ultimate Op-Ed or LTE! Click Here!
FULL FUNDING OF THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND
IN THE LARGER FEDERAL BUDGET CONTEXT
Below are the talking points that we promised following the Senate release of their Interior bill discussion draft last Friday. Please use them with partners and the press when asked about the Senate recommended funding level of $350 million. In addition to this encouraging Senate news, we also have good work being done on the House side. As we had been reporting for the last several weeks, the members who had worked on our floor amendment to the Interior bill in July wanted to send a letter urging Chairman Simpson to provide strong levels of funding for LWCF in FY 12. That letter has now been transmitted to Rogers, Dicks, Simpson and Moran, and it is attached. Signers include Republicans Bass (NH), Gerlach (PA), Dold (IL), Meehan (PA), and Reichert (WA) along with Democrats Murphy (CT), Inslee (WA), and Kind (WI). If you work closely with any of these members, please THANK them for their leadership on this important letter.
· By setting its FY12 appropriation at $350 million, the Senate has provided a meaningful level for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and reversed the draconian cuts proposed for FY12 by the House of Representatives. Last year, LWCF suffered a disproportionate cut of 33% in the FY11 Continuing Resolution, which resulted in unmet state and local parks needs and many landowners left in the lurch. While the FY12 level proposed by the Senate is only one-third of that proposed in the Administration's budget this year, this figure represents a significant endorsement of LWCF and a show of leadership by Chairman Reed, Ranking Member Murkowski, and the many Senators who care about this program-which has always had bipartisan support.
· The LWCF Coalition will continue to work to ensure that the non-taxpayer funds specifically set aside from OCS receipts for this program are used as they were intended- for conservation purposes such as working lands easements, national parks, forests, refuges and other public lands as well as state and local parks. At every level, these investments are proven economic generators; the American outdoor recreation, conservation and historic preservation economy contributes $1.06 trillion annually to the U.S. economy and supports 9.4 million American jobs, according to a study released last week by the National Fish and Wildlife Federation.
· Investing in LWCF at this level will mean that the most urgent state and local park recreation needs will be met, and some of the numerous existing landowner commitments will be honored. While $350 million won't address all of the many national, state, local and regionally-driven priorities across the country this year, this commitment leads in the right direction. We thank the Senate for listening to the diversity of voices across the nation calling for robust, consistent funding for LWCF. Sportsmen, industry leaders, conservationists, civil war buffs, historians, outdoor recreation business owners, forest owners, hikers, bikers, boaters and millions of other Americans value the tangible on-the-ground benefits of LWCF in their communities and to their economic success and are grateful for the Senate's leadership.
· The Department of the Interior estimates that the $214 million spent on land acquisitions in 2010 returned more than double that investment, supporting an estimated $442 million in economic activity and about 3,000 jobs.
· Over the life of the program, more than $3 billion in LWCF grants to states has leveraged more than $7 billion in nonfederal matching funds.
· A recent bipartisan poll found that an overwhelming majority - 88% - of voters support continuing to set aside offshore oil and gas drilling fees into the LWCF – AND FULLY 85% OF AMERICANS WANT LWCF TO BE FULLY FUNDED. This broad support extends from every geographic region of the country and every political persuasion. Additionally, last November voters approved 30 of 36, or 83%, of new land protection ballot initiatives in states and districts across the political spectrum.
Investments in our natural resources comprise roughly 1% of the federal budget. While this spending will not be immune from the broad budget cuts to come, we must recognize that these investments are vital to the places Americans care deeply about—our national parks and local recreation areas, our clean air and water, our wildlife refuges, working forests and farms and ranches, and other key parts of our national heritage. We must also recognize that, in particular, LWCF’s unique funding status—even beyond its economic and community benefits—should put this program on a different footing.
America cannot get its fiscal house in order without honest budgeting—we must stop the annual raiding of LWCF funds that are specifically set aside from offshore royalties but then vanish into a large and undefined general funding stream. Now is the time to remedy this dishonest budgeting to ensure that we can conserve the last remaining open spaces in this country for the next generation.
Full funding for LWCF should be considered as separate and distinct from general federal discretionary spending. A proper accounting of this program would fulfill the original promise of LWCF by making its funding permanent and dedicated, flowing directly and automatically from resource depletion to land and water preservation with oversight by Congress but no diversion of funds away from their authorized uses .
The full funding bill for LWCF has been reintroduced! S. 1265, Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act of 2011 , has 4 CoSponsors and 1 Sponsor (as of June 29th, 2011). We need YOUR help to urge members of the Senate to co sponsor this bill.
Call or visit your member today! Is your member signed on? Click here to find out!
Call and Write Your Senator: Urge them to Support Robust and Consistent Funding for LWCF
Urge your Senators to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Call and Write Your Congressman: Urge them to Support Robust and Consistent Funding for LWCF
**Draft Letter to your Congressman at bottom of this page**
Who is your Representative?
§ Click here to find your congressman by state
§ Click here to find your Congressman by zip code
§ Click here to find your Senators
Sign up for Action Alerts
Want to stay involved? E-mail us by clicking the link above to sign up for Action Alerts and become a fan on Facebook to get the most up to date information about what you can do to help. Tell your friends and colleagues to do the same!
Write articles for your local or state wide newspaper- For a draft of an Op Ed or LTE email
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
USE THESE TALKING POINTS BELOW FOR CONGRESSIONAL OUTREACH:
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) had done more than any other program to expand the systems of local parks, recreational green spaces and public lands enjoyed by hundreds of millions of Americans.
- LWCF is a wise investment to ensure access to public lands for hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation and support economic vitality and jobs in communities.
- LWCF positively impacts people and jobs in every state. Active outdoor recreation contributes $730 billion to America’s economy every year and supports 6.5 million jobs.
- Over 87.5 million people enjoy hunting, fishing or other wildlife-related recreation, spending $45.7 billion annually in local communities.
- Strategic land acquisitions by agencies such as the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service promotes management efficiencies and often results in significant cost-savings to agencies.
- LWCF is funded from a fraction of the proceeds from federal offshore oil and gas leasing royalties, and does not rely on taxpayer dollars.
- Congress intended LWCF to be a conservation offset to the depletion of these public offshore resources. Unfortunately, year after year, much of the lease revenue is diverted to other purposes, leaving LWCF perpetually underfunded.
- Years of funding shortfalls and diversion of LWCF funds represent a broken promise to the American people.
- Public opinion polls reveal that more than three quarters of Americans think these dollars should be used as intended for conservation. LWCF has taken more than its fair share of cuts already and Congress should act to defend and restore the program in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget.
- The recently enacted Fiscal Year 2011 budget cut LWCF to $301 million, a $149 million reduction from the previous year and less than one-half of the President’s budget requests. This is a mere one-third of the program’s authorized level of $900 annually
- Further cuts will drastically undermine this bipartisan program and cause hardships for landowners, communities and local economies all across America. The President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012 wisely recommends full funding of LWCF at $900 million.
- Americans understand that LWCF is essential to protecting critical habitat for wildlife, conserving wetlands, watersheds, and clean water supplies, and ensuring public access for hunting, fishing, and other recreation.
Dear Senator/Congressman,
I am writing to express my strong support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Specifically, I urge your support a permanent solution for funding LWCF during the 112th Congress to protect some of America’s most important natural areas, including national parks and forests, working farms, forests and ranches, and state and local parks. LWCF represents solid economic investment in all of our states that benefit a wide range of communities.
Outdoor recreation, much of which takes place on lands protected by LWCF, is vital to our nation’s economy. Hunting, fishing, camping, climbing, hiking, paddling, backcountry skiing, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, and other activities contribute a total of $730 billion annually to the economy, supporting 6.5 million jobs and stimulating 8 percent of all consumer spending according to the Outdoor Industry Foundation. The Trust for Public Land has found that every $1 invested in LWCF returns $4 in economic value. When lands are lost to development, both the outdoor spaces and the economic benefits they provide are lost.
Over the history of the program more than $17 billion of the Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas revenues deposited into LWCF have NOT been spent as the LWCF Act intended and have been diverted for other purposes. Congress should ensure honest budgeting for LWCF and finally direct a portion of the proceeds of offshore oil drilling to their originally intended purposes for the benefit of all Americans and the places where they live, work and play.
LWCF protects some of America’s most special outdoor places. Investments in important wildlife and recreational habitat ensure that public lands stay public for hunters, anglers, and other outdoor recreationists. Protecting historic places such as Civil War battlefields connect communities to their outdoor heritage and attract visitors from across the country. With the coming 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the intense development pressure that many battlefields face, these investments are important now more than ever.
LWCF has always been and continues to be a bipartisan commitment that has strong support among diverse communities in every state. During the 112th Congress, we hope that you will work with us to craft a permanent solution for LWCF to the benefit of the American people.
Click to hear LWCF on NPR: The Sierra Club discusses keeping our lands and "critters" safe
Thanks to all of your efforts in this past few weeks, LWCF came out more improved than any program in the Interior debate— the $25M in additional funding provided by the Bass and Tipton amendments couldn’t restore LWCF to an acceptable funding level, but it showed a broad bipartisan groundswell of support for the program. Going forward, we will continue to build on that support to get as much funding in the appropriations endgame for FY12 as possible.
The debt ceiling agreement, if it passes, will put a cap on discretionary spending for the next ten years, starting with an FY12 allocation that’s likely to be a fraction less than the FY11 enacted level. As you know, LWCF was funded at $301M in FY11, but so we’ll need to work hard over August recess to continue our momentum and to increase LWCF’s funding level in this new universe of funding caps. This long-term debt deal underscores more clearly than ever the need for dedicated, permanent funding legislation for LWCF at its fully authorized level. As a result, we plan to focus significant effort on adding additional co-sponsors (with priority on Republicans), to our Senate bill, S. 1265.