The Land and Water Conservation could have lifeline after September expiration deadline
By: Tyler Thompson and Alex Tinline
In less than a year the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) will expire unless Congress votes to reauthorize the fund to protect national parks and open spaces across the United States.
The LWCF has used more than $330 million to protect outdoor places, historic sites, increase sportsmen’s access, and build close to home parks with the state of Ohio alone. National parks such as the Cuyahoga National Park, Dayton Aviation National Historic Park, Wayne National Forest, Vinton Furnance Experimental Forest, and Little Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River are protected by the fund.
“The LWCF is funded largely by oil and gas revenue, and is the main source of funding for the federal acquisition of recreational lands through the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and other agencies,” said Senator Sherrod Brown. Taxpayers don’t pay a dime towards the program.
“In addition to helping our National Park Service and other public lands agencies, the conservation efforts funded through this program provide state and local governments with the tools and resources to create and add to their own parks and recreation areas. These protected areas help preserve native wildlife and habitats and safeguard our lands and waters for future generations.”
Ohio’s outdoor recreation department is a $24.3 billion industry. This department has created 215,000 jobs, which in turn generates $7 billion in wages and salaries. It also produces $1.5 billion in state and local tax revenue annually.
“I am pleased that my legislation with Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and Angus King (I-ME), the Restore Our Parks Act, passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources by a vote of 19-4 on October 2, 2018,” said Senator Rob Portman.
The Restore Our Parks Act that Senator Portman is referring to would help reduce the nearly $12 billion backlog of long-delayed maintenance projects at National Park Service (NPS) sites not only in Ohio but nation wide. This would include the over $100 million of deferred maintenance at Ohio’s eight national park sites, like the Cuyahoga National Park.
The Cuyahoga National Park, located between Cleveland and Akron, for example used $10 million from the LWCF in the 1990s to transform the Park into the reservation we have today.
“This funding would come from half of all of these revenues that are not otherwise allocated and deposited into the General Treasury, which means the legislation could provide up to $6.5 billion for deferred maintenance backlog projects at our parks without putting at risk other programs that are also funded by energy revenues, such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF),” said Portman. “This legislation is supported by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and more than 100 national, state, and local organizations. I will continue to pursue opportunities to protect and preserve our public lands, because I want our children and grandchildren to inherit a world with nature’s wonders intact,” he said.
However if Congress does not reauthorize the fund then all the progress in conversation and upkeep of recreation areas across Ohio will meet a dismal end. Amy Lindholm from the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition paints a gloomy picture for what future Ohioans will encounter.
“We will see more development of properties in the national parks, national wildlife refuges,” said Lindholm. “Communities will have to look elsewhere for funds for local parks and playgrounds trails and bike ways and we all know how difficult it things are at the state and local level to get things funded,” she said.
After Nov. 7 the issue will be up to vote in the House of Representatives and Senate.
Letting the LWCF expire could put our parks in grave danger
LWCF to expire soon read here for info on the fund and what that means for Ohio
The Land and Water Conservation could have lifeline after September expiration deadline https://t.co/EkubzNhhec— Alexandra Tinline (@alex_tinline) October 24, 2018
The status of parks and land preservation is jeopardy if congress doesn’t reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation. https://t.co/v1qQUJwU0Z
— Spooky, Scary, Terrifying Tyler (@TylerThompson__) October 24, 2018
Text by: Alex
Audio by: Tyler
