Key conservation fund for parks set to expire

A key funding mechanism for parks and recreational facilities is set to expire Sunday due to inaction from Congress.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has broad, bipartisan support, and bills are moving through both the House and the Senate to authorize the program indefinitely.

But lawmakers couldn’t get their differing bills across the finish line before the current law authorizing the program expires.

The program takes a portion of payments the federal government gets from offshore oil and natural gas production, and puts it toward federal, state, local and even private projects like buying land for parks, building recreational facilities and opening new areas for access. Sunday will be the LWCF’s second lapse in authorization in three years.

“It’s frustrating that we’re here right now,” said Land Tawney, president of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a Montana-based sportsmen’s group.

“Congress should be working for the people, and this is one of those places where they haven’t stepped up,” he said.

The immediate impact of the lapse might not be very noticeable.

The LWCF still has billions of dollars in it — $39 billion as of last year, Interior Department spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort said — and can continue to pay out to projects, but it cannot collect new money. The revenue that would usually come to it from offshore oil and natural gas payments will instead go into the general federal treasury.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/409030-key-conservation-fund-for-parks-set-to-expire