Tag Archives: open space

Nice editorial here from the NY Times, echoing what I have written (see below) for this week’s outdoors page conservation column.

Pennsylvanians are right to be proud of our state’s outdoor heritage, and believe that it’s important to pass down our outdoor values to our kids and our grandkids. And it’s our job to make sure our forests, mountains, fish and wildlife and clean water are protected for centuries to come.

We can help do this by urging our elected officials to ensure public lands are treated as the treasures they truly are. (Municipal officials who see only property tax dollars coming from “available” land are wrong). The Land and Water Conservation Fund balances the extraction and sale of federal natural resources — offshore oil and gas — with the permanent protection of important lands and waters and access to recreation and natural heritage for all Americans.

Authorized in 1965, LWCF is an enduring conservation legacy that makes even greater sense today as America faces the greatest environmental disaster of our time — the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf spill is a sobering reminder of how vulnerable our public lands, waters, communities and wildlife can be.

Here in the mid-Atlantic, where the sprawl and road-builders seemingly rule the debate at times), we need sustained investment to provide long-term protection of the rivers, lakes, mountains, and wide open spaces so important to all of us. The Land and Water Conservation Fund was created to do just that.

Designed to create and maintain local, state, and national natural resource areas, the LWCF provides funding to state and federal governments to keep the promise made to protect our counttry’s  special places — everything from local baseball fields to Yellowstone National Park — for future generations. LWCF-funded purchases of lands and conservation easements also help private landowners, public agencies and communities protect states’ natural heritage and recreational assets.

The LWCF can receive up to $900 million a year from energy royalties. But despite an increase in energy production, funding dedicated to protecting land and water has been low and unpredictable and often diverted elsewhere by Congress. LWCF is the only fund providing a specific conservation benefit from federal energy development.

Now is the time to ensure that LWCF becomes a dedicated source, protected from being diverted to unrelated boondoggle spending. One of our most precious resources is the dwindling natural beauty too many people seem to taking for granted as they rush to flip on the TV or play the latest video game. By funding the LWCF, we are not only creating recreational opportunities for hikers, hunters, and anglers, but also injecting tourist dollars into states’ economies. The LWCF has also funded the purchase of land and conservation easements that have helped private landowners, communities, and public agencies protect states’ agricultural and recreational heritage.

A recent poll by Zogby International shows that in one state lone – Montana – nearly 80 percent of Americans support fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund to protect our national parks and develop recreation opportunities in the states. And LWCF has already left a lasting legacy here — from protecting natural areas and setting aside wild places to creating and improving recreational facilities in urban areas.

The LWCF’s work is evident across the state at parks, forests and protected watersheds. Money from the LWCF has also funded urban parks and recreational facilities. LWCF is instrumental in the creation of tennis courts, swimming pools, skate parks, and other types of recreational facilities and spaces.

With lawmakers support, we can help ensure that Pennsylvanians have clean places to hunt, fish and camp for generations to come. Sn. Jeff Bingaman from New Mexico has teamed up with another senator to introduce a bill that guarantees funding for the LWCF. This bill would “provide consistent and reliable authority for, and for the funding of, the Land and Water Conservation Fund to maximize the effectiveness of the fund for future generations, and for other purposes.

Now is the time to thank our senators for their support of the LWCF, and to urge them to continue pursuing legislation to fully fund it.