Senate Wants to Divert Funding from Vital Land Conservation Program

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), often called America’s best conservation program, sets aside revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling to reinvest in protecting parks, trails, recreation, and public lands and waters.

The outdoor community has been a vital voice that helped bring LWCF back from the brink of extinction years ago, advocated for the program to be permanent, and secured guaranteed funding each year. In a moment where outdoor spaces are in high demand and are vitally needed to help fight the climate crisis, LWCF funds have created green spaces in all 50 states, ranging from local parks and playgrounds to completing National Parks.

And yet, as the Senate undertakes appropriations, the process of funding the government, lawmakers have proposed diverting $100 million earmarked for LWCF to other government programs. With so many LWCF needs around the country—proposed trail systems, parks, and public lands and waters, and the need to conserve more land as a way to address climate change—the timing couldn’t be worse to redirect money away from a critical and successful conservation program.

The political context around appropriations this year is complicated, to say the least. In a divided Congress, funding the government requires lawmakers to accept a bipartisan compromise, an extremely difficult prospect in our highly polarized political environment. This year, funding the government is made even more difficult by funding caps set earlier this summer in the debt ceiling agreement, and by proposals from House lawmakers to cut conservation funding even further. Still, redirecting greatly-needed funding that Congress already dedicated to land conservation with overwhelming bipartisan support should not be the answer to our funding challenges.

For more than a decade, Outdoor Alliance and conservation partners like the LWCF coalition have worked to protect conservation funding and ensure the dollars set aside for funding public lands make a difference on the ground. This funding is more important than ever for addressing the climate crisis and expanding access to nature and recreation.

As Senate lawmakers proceed with government funding negotiations over the coming weeks, it is crucial that they hear from voters on this issue. Outdoor voices have been a vital part of protecting and restoring LWCF, and they are needed especially right now. We’ve made it easy to send a message.