Land and Water Conservation Fund

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Throughout our nation’s history, conservation has been a shared value and a rare area of agreement for leaders on both sides of the aisle. In that spirit, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in 1964 as a tool to conserve America’s great outdoor spaces necessary for healthy, livable communities.

With population growth and increasing development in the urban-rural firnge, smart investment in protecting our land and water is needed more than ever before

LWCF Background

The LWCF has left an enormous legacy of success by ensuring communities — big, small, urban, rural — are able to protect what means most to them. In Washington State, LWCF has invested close to $600 million in over 600 projects.

This has been achieved all without taxpayer dollars. The program is based on a simple idea: that a small portion of lease royalties paid to the federal government for offshore energy development — resources owned by us all — should be invested back into parks, trails, wildlife habitat and forests for all to enjoy.

Congress authorized a small portion of oil and gas royalties — $900 million — to go into LWCF. But the funding approved by Congress each year has dropped, even as both revenues from offshore development and the cost of conservation have increased. Instead, a majority of LWCF funds have been diverted to other purposes.

Tools in the Toolbox

  • National public lands. Within the boundaries of our national parks, forest, wildlife refuges and other public lands, there is still privately owned land. LWCF allows purchase of these properties from willing sellers to open up public access, prevent incompatible development, and consolidate land ownership to make management more efficient.
  • Forest Legacy Program (FLP). The FLP protects forestlands from conversion to non-forest uses, like development. FLP pays for conservation easements on private working forestland, keeping working forests in production while protecting water quality, recreational access, and fish and wildlife habitat.
  • Section 6-Endangered Species fund. Section 6 provides funding to states for species and habitat conservation on nonfederal lands. The program promotes voluntary conservation in areas where landowners, states, and other stakeholders have agreed on conservation and development goals.
  • State and Local Assistance Program. This program provides matching grants to state, local, and tribal governments to create and expand parks and develop recreational facilities.

LWCF and Land Trusts

LWCF has been an integral funding source in many land trust-led projects. Here are some highlights of how land trusts have been involved with LWCF success:

  • South Puget Sound Coastal Forest. The Trust for Public Land has helped secure funding from the Forest Legacy Program to place conservation easements on working forests in Mason, County, WA. This conservation will preserve the local forest industry, protect downstream tideland habitat, and open up recreational access. The project plans to protect a total of 23,580 acres of forest in South Puget Sound.
  • Ebey’s Landing. In partnership with Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, Whidbey Camano Land Trust and the Nature Conservancy have helped protect more than 600 acres of prime scenic and recreational land using LWCF funding. This protects coastal wetlands and prairie land species and honors Whidbey Island’s rural heritage.
  • Mount St. Helens. In partnership with State DNR, the Forest Service,  and Pope Resources, the Columbia Land Trust leveraged LWCF funding through the  Forest Legacy Program to protect working forest and habitat on approximately 20,000 acres at the base of Mount St. Helens.

Speak up for LWCF

Despite the program’s decades of success and bipartisan support, it has been threatened. Congress let LWCF expire in 2015 for the first time in 50 years. In response to public outcry, our champions in Congress fought for a short-term solution: an emergency authorization of three years. In 2016, Congress had another opportunity to permanently reauthorize LWCF, thanks to legislation championed by Washington’s own Senator Maria Cantwell in the Energy Bill. Unfortunately, the House and Senate failed to find agreement and the Energy Bill was unable to pass.

We cannot wait until 2018 to let the LWCF expire again. It is virtually impossible for agencies and communities to plan on future funding that that is so time-sensitive. We need the land trust community to come together, speak out, and defend the program that has touched so many lives and landscapes.

We thank Senator Cantwell and the rest of the Washington delegation for their continuing leadership on the Land and Water Conservation Fund. They know how important it is to the American people that this program is authorized permanently and fully funded. We urge our delegation to work with the new Congress, Administration, and stakeholders across the country to find a solution for long term reauthorization and full funding of the LWCF.

 

Join us in our fight. Here are some things you can do: