The LWCF State Assistance Program is the only program that provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants to states and local governments specifically for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation sites and facilities (fields for youth sports, pedestrian trails, parks, wildlife habitats, etc). 

Please ask your representatives to defend LWCF while reiterating that the program is a wise investment that provides public access for recreation, bolsters local economies and jobs, conserves working forests, farms and ranches, and protects our waters, wildlife and open spaces.

How Can You Help?

1.    Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.225.3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative.  Once connected, ask to speak to the staff person handling Interior Appropriations.

2.    Write to your member (www.house.gov) urging them to support and defend LWCF funding and to oppose amendments that would cut funding or weaken LWCF.

What to Say:

Thank your member for their continuing support for the Land and Water Conservation Fund!  As the House and Senate act on the FY11 Spending Bill, please oppose cuts to LWCF!  We support LWCF funding as proposed in the President's budget for FY2011 and urge you to vote to make sure it is permanently protected.  LWCF is a wise investment that supports our local economies and jobs, and protects our land, water and recreation heritage. 

• This House spending bill is one of the biggest assaults on our conservation and public health we’ve ever seen with massively cutting of funding to almost all departments and agencies such as Forest Service, EPA, Interior, and LWCF. These severe cuts take us back decades and nearly defund programs which will leave our lands and waters unprotected while hurting public health and cutting jobs.
• The House CR proposes the virtual elimination of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program that is ALREADY PAID FOR using a very small percentage of oil drilling receipts.  These are not taxpayer dollars.
• The House CR would reduce LWCF to $59 million, the lowest level in its 45 year history and a 90 percent cut from FY 10 enacted levels.  This represents a direct attack on the program, not a rollback to previous levels.
• LWCF is a wise economic investment and eliminating it will have an immediate impact on thousands of communities across the country.  It will lead to a loss of drinking water quality, jobs in the woods, American historic sites, and community parks and recreation sites.
• Outdoor recreation and tourism are critical parts of our nation's economy, creating jobs and economic opportunity even in times of economic crisis.  In 2010, the outdoor recreation industry’s retail sales grew by almost 10 percent over the previous year..  The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) reports that recreation contributes $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy and supports nearly 6.5 million jobs across the U.S.  When land is developed rather than conserved, the benefits to the outdoor recreation economy are lost forever.
• The LWCF enjoys long-standing bipartisan support from the American people. Just last year, the House of Representatives voted to provide full and permanent funding of LWCF, a priority that also enjoys bipartisan Senate support.
• Recent polling found that 86% of Americans are supportive of reinvesting funds from offshore drilling fees into land and water protection, and more than 77% support funding LWCF at its authorized level of $900 million a year.