Critical Conservation Program Lapses for First Time in 50 Years
Congress Fails to Act in Time to Save Land & Water Conservation Fund
SILVER SPRING, MD – September 30, 2015 – Fifty years ago Congress understood that the depletion of a public resource should – fairly – result in a benefit to the American people, the owners of that resource, and made a promise to do just that. This promise was fulfilled in the creation of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), where just a small portion of the royalties paid to the government from private corporations drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf are returned to the public through the protection of places such as parks and historic sites.
Tomorrow, for the first time in most Americans’ lives, these royalties from the depletion of a public resource will no longer be directed to conservation but simply dumped into the general Treasury. Taken for granted and turned into a political football, the Land and Water Conservation Fund may no longer be able to:
- Preserve lands that should be added to Gettysburg National Military Park
- Protect even one more mile on the yet-to-be-completed Pacific Crest Trail
- Protect land in urban environments for the creation of playgrounds or ballfields
Tomorrow, corporations will continue to drill for oil and gas – resources that belong to all Americans – but the average American will not see any benefit from it. The 50-year-old program that ensured that the depletion of one public natural resource resulted in the protection of another public natural resource will have ceased to exist; the promise will be broken.
Congressman Raul M. Grijalva, the Ranking Member of the House’s Natural Resources Committee stated, “This is not about saving taxpayer money, since LWCF accepts none. This is about an ongoing ideological war on public lands conservation. Letting the Fund expire will be a lasting black mark on the leadership of this Congress.”
American Hiking Society calls upon our nation’s leaders to keep the promise that was made by our grandparents’ generation. A promise that has been upheld for 50 years by both Republicans and Democrats. A promise that gave us mountain trails to explore, city ballfields on which to play catch, and places where we could honor those who gave the last full measure of devotion in our nation’s battles.
Let it not be our generation that breaks this promise. Congress must act. Congress must renew the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
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Founded in 1976, American Hiking Society is the only national, recreation-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting America’s hiking trails, their surrounding natural areas and the hiking experience. To learn more about American Hiking Society and its mission and programs, please visit americanhiking.org or call (301) 565-6704.
