The Mountaineers
UPDATE: Congress let LWCF expire at the end of September. However, on Oct 2, Senator Maria Cantwell, with Senator Richard Burr's, bill to reauthorize LWCF passed out of committee - an important hurdle in saving LWCF.
Hailed as America’s best conservation program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is set to expire on September 30, 2018 unless Congress takes action. For over 50 years, LWCF funds have helped build and improve trails and trailheads, parks, river put-ins, and climbing areas, benefiting everything from city green spaces to national parks.
The program takes a small portion of the revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling and puts it towards recreation and conservation. Its impact spans all 50 states, including many iconic and important places here in the Pacific Northwest.
If you love to walk, picnic, ski, hike, climb, bike, canyoneer, camp, photograph, or paddle, you have probably benefited from LWCF. Here in Washington State, the program has helped protect:
- National public lands like the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Pacific Crest Trail, and Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve
- State lands like Mt. Si and the Wanapum Recreation Area (Ginkgo Petrified Forest )
- Local parks, including Magnuson, where The Mountaineers Seattle Program Center is located
Since its establishment in 1964, LWCF has invested more than $16 billion in funds and matching grants to federal, state, and local governments. It’s a common sense program, with consistent bipartisan support since its inception.
And yet, as some of you may remember, three years ago Congress let the LWCF expire. The Mountaineers community came out in force to ask Congress to renew the program (Thank you to everyone who weighed in!). In the end, lawmakers settled on a temporary three year renewal.
The three year renewal is about to be up, and now we need your help to save this critical conservation program.
There are multiple bipartisan bills in Congress – including one by Washington’s Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senator Richard Burr (NC-R) – that would permanently reauthorize and fund the LWCF. There is general, strong support for the program, but Congress has not prioritized voting on these bills yet. Take action today to tell Congress this program is a priority to you. We’ve made it super easy to sign on to a support letter from Washington State residents. Let’s make this the last time any of us have to advocate for the renewal of this program!
Take Action
For Washington State residents:
If you're a Washington State resident, please join our sign-on letter addressed to our Congressional delegation:
For out of state residents:
If you don't live in Washington State, we've set up an easy way to contact your representatives:
Learn more about LWCF
Our partners at Outdoor Alliance have set up an awesome interactive map, showing the broad impacts of LWCF. Take a look!
Main blog image taken on the gravel bar by the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, by Monty VanderBilt.
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Time spend in our natural areas is important for human health and healing--not just for "having fun" even though that may be part of it. It also helps us all understand the natural processes on which our lives depend--air, water, etc. Once wilderness is destroyed, it never comes back! It must be saved from the outset at all cost.
