PARC Act Hurts Trails – Take Action!

Nov 18, 2015 – While the Senate has incorporated a slightly “tweaked” version of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) reauthorization into a piece of legislation that has already passed through committee with bipartisan support, the House Natural Resources Committee Chairman, Rob Bishop, has introduced an overhaul of LWCF in a bill entitled the Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation (PARC) Act.

In brief, the bill would allow just 3.5% of LWCF funds to actually be used for land and water conservation. The PARC Act actually diverts 35% of LWCF funding away from any kind of conservation at all. Of that 35%, 20% of LWCF funds get returned to the oil and gas industry and 15% go to Payment in Lieu of Taxes, a good program that should be funded from its own appropriations.

Can some aspects of the current LWCF program be adjusted and updated? Absolutely. The Senate did exactly that in its bill. AHS has grave concerns about the PARC Act as it does so much less to actually conserve lands – lands where Americans hike.

In testimony to the Committee, Peter Olsen, AHS Vice President for Government Relations, noted, “While AHS appreciates the thoughtful approach and consideration the discussion draft takes, when it comes to trails, we feel that Congress has a responsibility to complete the trails that it authorized and which hundreds of thousands of volunteers all across the country have poured their sweat and hard-earned money into. The purchase of lands when they’re available that will help to complete these trails is neither a handout nor a land grab; it is a fulfillment of Congress’s promise that was made to America’s outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen decades ago and upon which they have been relying.”

Please reach out to Congress and ask them to reauthorize LWCF as part of the Omnibus 2016 Appropriations Bill (the “budget” bill). They need to hear from you. If trails and conservation are important to their constituents, they’re important to them. So get involved and leave the next generation places to hike and play and explore as past generations have left us. Together we can pass it on.