Federal land funds not out of woods

RELEASE: February 9, 2007 – Volume XXXVII, No. 6

Late last year, Congress passed legislation that would provide a permanent source of funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. This ‘holy grail’ of land conservation funding means a steady source of revenue for the federal government’s chief land preservation tool.

But we are not out of the woods yet…and the woods face a big hurdle.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund was created to fund the purchase of land for national parks, national wildlife refuges, national recreational areas and other federally-owned lands. In addition, the Fund provides 50 percent matching grants to states for permanently preserving lands.

This federal funding pipeline is absolutely critical to our system of parks at all levels. Since 1964, the Fund generated more than $4 billion for more than 40,000 local and state projects. This meant funding for hundreds of state parks and natural areas in every state, as well as 12,000 hiking trails, 5,000 campgrounds, 10,000 swimming/boating facilities and even 40,000-plus athletic and playing fields.

In the Garden State, almost 74,000 acres have been preserved since 1965 through 305 federal grants of over $117 million. Recent funds helped expand Higbee Beach in Cape May County and preserve three sites in the Morris County Highlands.

The new legislation passed by Congress would provide permanent funding by dedicating 12.5 percent of the royalties from expanded offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But it takes time to get a large offshore drilling operation started, so the new revenue isn’t expected to kick in until 2009. Even then, the new funding will be capped between $10 million and $30 million until the cap expires in 2016.

Conservation advocates are seeking $100 million to meet current demand. Due to the rapid pace of sprawl across the nation, even a few years of shortfall would be disastrous.

What can you do to help? Encourage your Senators and Representatives in Congress to fight to ensure that sufficient funding is appropriated annually to help meet the needs of every community. And thank them for taking this important step in providing a long term source of resources to save our open spaces.

You can learn more about the important role of the Land and Water Conservation Fund from the National Recreation and Park Association at www.nrpa.org, or from the National Park Service at www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/lwcf/. And if you would like more information about conserving New Jersey’s precious land and natural resources, I hope you’ll contact me at info@njconservation.org.

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