FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2019
Vote for permanent reauthorization of Land and Water Conservation Fund critical for the future of our national parks
DENVER—Following an overwhelming vote in the Senate, the House of Representatives voted 363-62 today to pass the largest piece of public lands legislation in a decade. The package of bills includes permanent reauthorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund which has been expired for almost five months, costing America’s national parks, forests, public lands, and cities more than $360 million. The legislation also protects millions of acres of public lands by establishing 1.3 million acres of new wilderness, new mining withdrawals, new national monuments, national park expansions, and the creation of multiple national park units.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Such overwhelming support in the House and Senate once again demonstrates that public lands conservation transcends partisan politics. This legislation establishes new wilderness areas, mineral withdrawals, National Park Service units, and national monuments, a welcome contrast to the energy-first and anti-conservation policies that have flooded out of the Interior Department over the last two years.
“Permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund will provide certainty for projects that protect and increase access to our national parks and public lands. It’s imperative that President Trump sign the legislation, then fully fund LWCF in his upcoming budget proposal.”
The vote in Congress is a clear rejection of the Trump administration’s public lands agenda. But that hasn’t stopped Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt from trying to take credit for championing Land and Water Conservation Fund reauthorization. LWCF is an important source of funding for protecting America’s public lands at no cost to taxpayers—the program draws royalty revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling operations. The Trump administration’s FY2019 budget request proposed cutting LWCF appropriations by 95%.
This legislation also creates new national monuments, a stark contradiction to President Trump’s attempts to eviscerate two national monuments in Utah in 2017.
Today’s vote showed how members of Congress can reach across the aisle and come to a consensus on protecting public lands. The Center for Western Priorities’ Winning the West campaign found that supporting public lands conservation was a winning issue for Western candidates in the 2018 midterm election, where candidates had to be pro-public lands in order to win over voters. At least 20 races in the Rocky Mountain West featured pro-public lands campaign messaging and advertising, while candidates with anti-public lands legislative records were defeated at the polls.
Learn More:
- Go West, Young Podcast: What’s in the public lands bill?