PUBLIC LANDS: Jewell continues campaign urging Congress to reauthorize, fully fund LWCF
Scott Streater, E&E reporter
Greenwire: Friday, May 22, 2015
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell today continued her yearlong campaign to prompt Congress to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, visiting a historic site overlooking the Potomac River that was preserved with help from the land conservation fund.
Jewell, Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), along with state and local government leaders, visited the historic Chiles Homesite at Douglas Point in southern Maryland as Congress debates the fate of the 50-year-old LWCF, which is set to expire at the end of September.
Congress authorized the LWCF to be funded each year with up to $900 million in offshore oil and gas drilling royalties for the acquisition of federal lands and the conservation of private lands and for matching grants to states and local governments for parks. The Obama administration is proposing full, mandatory funding for LWCF beginning in 2017.
Congress, however, has appropriated full funding of LWCF only once since it was enacted in 1965.
"Whether it's a scenic, historic tract like Douglas Point, a ballpark or a hiking trail, each of these projects under the Land and Water Conservation Fund play an important role in improving the health and vitality of people, especially in urban areas, as well as protecting natural areas and history for future generations of Americans to enjoy," Jewell said today. "Congress needs to fulfill the promise made 50 years ago to the American people by enacting full and permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund."
While few disagree that the LWCF has had a positive impact, the fund has been a source of partisan bickering over how it should be used.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has said money from the LWCF should be used for "maintaining and enhancing" the lands the nation already owns before acquiring new lands (E&E Daily, April 23).
House Republicans, as well, have said that while they support reauthorizing the LWCF, they want to see it reformed, in part, to help pay down the National Park Service's nearly $11.5 billion deferred maintenance backlog (E&E Daily, April 16).
Jewell since last year has been on a tour of sites purchased with LWCF money to stump for congressional reauthorization and full funding. The visit to Douglas Point today marked the eighth stop on her LWCF promotion tour, which began last summer at a Fort Worth, Texas, public park financed with money from the fund.
The LWCF has broad support from state and local government leaders, as evidenced by aletter sent yesterday to members of Congress by a bipartisan coalition of 30 mayors urging them to reauthorize and fully fund the conservation law (Greenwire, May 21).
Hoyer vowed during today's ceremony at Douglas Point to "continue to work in Congress to build support for the reauthorization of this important fund that expires this September."
BLM in 2001 acquired the 548-acre Douglas Point area using LWCF money. The tract is part of the nearly 2,000-acre Nanjemoy Natural Resource Management Area operated by BLM, the state of Maryland and Charles County.
The LWCF has helped fund more than 40,000 local conservation and outdoor recreation projects protecting land, water and wildlife heritage nationwide, according to the Interior Department.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton said the LWCF has provided $200 million to the state for land acquisition projects over the past five decades.
"This funding has allowed us to safeguard the future of some of the most unique and special landscapes anywhere, while accelerating bay restoration, expanding public access and inspiring stewardship among our citizens and visitors," Belton said.
