We have written extensively about the beneficial impact the Land and Water Conservation Fund has had on the environment and economy both here in New Hampshire and across our country. This is an opinion shared widely among the outdoor recreation industry, hunters and fishermen, conservationists and kids of all ages. Yet, a few members of Congress continue with efforts to undermine what is America’s most important conservation and recreation program. Without Congressional action, LWCF will expire on September 30
During the recent consideration of the proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriation bill for the U.S. Department of Interior for example, Congressman Andy Biggs of Arizona proposed transferring $2.4 million from the Bureau of Land Management Land acquisition account, which is part of the LWCF, to the NPS Parks Maintenance Backlog.
While the maintenance backlog at our national parks is a serious problem, the Biggs amendment simply took money from a fund dedicated to the conservation of our nation’s shared outdoor heritage. That raid on the LWCF would have cut five conservation projects proposed by the BLM while providing a marginal increase in maintenance spending. As such, it represented a false choice. While it is true the BLM does not administer projects in New Hampshire, this misguided proposal could have just easily targeted a program which is important to our state such as the Forest Legacy Program or National Wildlife Refuge System. Therefore, it needed to be defeated.
Fortunately, Cong, Kuster and Cong. Shea-Porter continued to show leadership and voted against the Biggs’ proposal. The majority of their House colleagues agreed with our Representatives and rejected it by a vote 237 against to 172 in favor. The bad news is that the House of Representatives did end up approving a FY 19 Interior Appropriations bill that allocates only $360 million for the LWCF- once again underfunding the program. Both our members of Congress also voted no on the FY 19 Interior Appropriations bill.
Over in the U.S. Senate, Senator Shaheen introduced a bi-partisan amendment with her colleagues Sens. Gardner (R-CO), Bennet (D-CO) and Burr (R-NC) to the Senate’s proposed FY 19 Interior & Environment Appropriations Bill to permanently reauthorize the program. As we have noted, it will expire on September 30th, 2018. This imminent deadline means legislative opportunities to reauthorize the LWCF are dwindling and further highlights the importance of Senator Shaheen’s efforts. Unfortunately, her amendment did not receive a vote because of an agreement between the two political parties to avoid offering “authorizing” amendments in the appropriations process.
However, a call or an email to Senator Shaheen to thank her for her commitment to the program will reinforce the message that the New Hampshire public cares about the protection of our important natural areas and wants to see a robustly and permanently funded LWCF.