Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2019
CONTACT – Mackenzie Lucas 1(202)225-6572

Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s (D-N.J.) bill to fully fund LWCF at its authorized level of $900 million annually passed at the Natural Resources Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee on Wednesday. Van Drew introduced the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Permanent Funding Act with Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and a bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers and environmental leaders at a press conference held at the U.S. Capitol last week. Congress routinely fails to fully fund LWCF despite the program’s broad bipartisan support and decades of successful land conservation at the local, state and federal levels. 

The public lands package that became law earlier this year included permanent LWCF reauthorization, which ensures that the program does not become a political football in future years but does not assure full funding. LWCF, which is funded by oil and gas royalties extracted from federal waters in the Outer Continental Shelf, is authorized to spend $900 million annually on state, local and national conservation projects, but Congress has routinely underfunded the program by 50 percent or more each year.

Every state and county in the nation benefits from LWCF, all without spending a dime of taxpayer dollars. Since 1965, LWCF has funded 42,000 projects across the country that have tremendous economic benefits and returns on investment for the country. In fact, studies show that each dollar spent on LWCF has the potential to generate twice that amount in economic activity. Additionally, our outdoor recreation contributes $887 billion annually to the economy and supports 7.6 million jobs.

The critical objective the bill would accomplish is to take the funding that is already being set aside for conservation and prevent future Congresses and any Administration from raiding this fund and using it for other purposes that were not intended when LWCF became law more than 50 years ago.

“The passage of the LWCF Funding Act through committee is a step in the right direction for our future. It is a shame that these funds have not been used for their intended purposes in the past and considering the environmental threats we face today, conservation is essential,” said Congressman Van Drew. “For over 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has invested over $350 million for some of New Jersey’s most significant natural areas such as the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge which provides access for recreational hunting, fishing and other outdoor experiences like birding. Permanently reauthorizing LWCF was an important step, but now we need to finish the job and ensure that the funds intended to create parks and protect open spaces are utilized for those purposes. Our bipartisan bill is a win for taxpayers, good governance and future generations of Americans.”