Congress kills America’s most important outdoors program
Land and Water Conservation Fund dies Oct. 1st from congressional inaction
Portland, Ore. – The Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association (NSIA) is stunned to learn today that the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has died after a slow, terminal illness: congressional inaction.
LWCF has a 50-year legacy of preserving land for public use at no cost to taxpayers. The result has been vibrant parks, access to public lands for fishing and hunting, and a thriving outdoor economy. But now one of America’s most popular, bi-partisan programs is dead because Congress failed to renew this historic program before it expired on September 30.
“Despite the best efforts of NW Senators Cantwell, Murray, Wyden and Merkley, Congress has killed the Land and Water Conservation Fund by failing to act, and by doing so has sent a clear message to the American people: we don’t care about supporting America’s legacy of public lands, our jobs, and the economies that depend on them” said Liz Hamilton, Executive Director of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon expressed his disappointment following LWCF’s expiration.
“Congress should be working to increase access to public lands, bolstering an outdoor recreation economy that supports more than 100,000 jobs in Oregon and contributes more than $646 billion a year nationally,” Wyden said. “I’m going to continue working to build support for full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund so Americans will always be able to visit public lands and enjoy their favorite national parks.”
For 50 years, LWCF has kept this simple promise to the American people: When we drill for offshore oil and gas that belongs to all Americans, we put a little of the proceeds aside as a conservation offset that gives back to us all something lasting and meaningful – protecting parks and special places we care about. Expiration of LWCF breaks that trust.
Starting this Thursday, the oil drilling will continue, but the American public won’t see a penny of that revenue for reinvestment in conservation and recreation.
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington is the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and she offered this statement following Wednesday’s deadline:
“From Mount Rainier to the San Juan Islands to Colville National Forest, Washington’s great outdoors are important to our economy and our way of life – and the LWCF plays a critical role. I’ve championed this effort on a number of fronts, including a bipartisan effort to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund in the Energy Policy Modernization Act. And, I was joined by 29 Senators to introduce the American Energy Innovation Act that would permanently reauthorize LWCF and ensure it is fully funded. It’s time Congress stops playing politics with our public lands. I will continue to use every opportunity to reauthorize and fully fund this vital program.”
LWCF has provided local, state, and federal government bodies a reliable tool to purchase land of interest to the public like parts of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, boat ramps, river bank access, and hunting areas across the Northwest. LWCF is also the only fund available to purchase inholdings of private land in our national parks.
Following Wednesday’s deadline, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon vowed to keep pushing for full funding and renewal of the LWCF program in the future.
“The Forest Legacy program is an important tool in preserving and protecting Oregon’s outdoor spaces which are a crucial part of our heritage. It’s important that we preserve these special places for our children and grandchildren, and the LWCF is a critical tool for creating and preserving public lands,” said U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley. “As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, getting LWCF fully funded is one of my top priorities—and I will keep fighting until we get it done.”
For 50 years, LWCF has had dedicated, pay-as-you-go revenue, but with expiration, this revenue will be unjustly siphoned off into the black hole of the Treasury. Opponents of LWCF argue that there is plenty of money in the account, but that is not true — previous deposits have been raided for unrelated spending, leaving nothing but a $20 billion “IOU”. Without new revenue, there will be NO conservation payback for offshore energy extraction, and LWCF will have NO new revenue to pay for critical current needs.
“We deserve honest budgeting. LWCF needs to be reauthorized, with its revenues and conservation mission intact,” said Hamilton.
Congress could act later to revive the program with permanent reauthorization, and NSIA continues to advocate for this. The implications for the sportfishing industry are too harmful to not demand renewal even though the program has been allowed to lapse. Consumer spending on public lands in Washington tops $11 billion annually. Residents and visitors to Oregon contribute nearly $6 billion in spending across the state. A 2013 study shows fishing on public lands creates more than 7,200 jobs in Oregon, and 10,500 fishing related jobs in Washington exist because anglers are not shut out of our world-class fisheries. Those jobs are the very people who make up the sportfishing industry. They are people you know: they are the men and women who manufacture your tackle, they are your rod builders, and they are the cashier who rings you up at your favorite retailer.
In a time when many local economies are beginning to rebound, it is preposterous that a handful of Congressional leaders would prevent a no-cost program that invests in communities from coast to coast from even coming to a vote. NSIA businesses will continue to work with our Northwest Senate Delegation to find ways to continue the program’s legacy of providing the public access to the outdoors.
“Sportsmen and women and the businesses who rely on a healthy outdoors thank our visionary NW Senators Wyden, Merkley, Murray and Cantwell for working full-bore to reauthorize America’s most important conservation and outdoor recreation jobs creation program,” said Liz Hamilton, “We stand ready to support our Senators as they try to revive the program in October.”