Summer is in full bloom and whether your adventures with your friends and family take you fishing, hiking, or biting into a locally sourced burger, you might have the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to thank. Created by Congress in 1964, LWCF has been used to create city parks, purchase conservation easements to protect family ranches, expand national forests, and increase hunting and fishing access across our state. And it does it without a single dollar of public taxes. Instead, the fund’s primary source of income is from royalties paid by oil and gas companies drilling offshore in waters owned by the American people.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was created by Congress in 1964 using primarily the royalties from offshore oil and gas development on federal property. It was a pretty great idea. Take some of the fees paid by energy companies to extract a public resource and invest it back into protecting other natural resources. Through the years, Montana has done well by the fund. It has been used to create city parks, purchase conservation easements on family ranches, expand national forests, and increase hunting and fishing access across the state. In fact, 70 percent of Montana’s fishing access sites were created with LWCF money.
Today, the fund is at risk and, if it disappears, it jeopardizes the heritage of our public lands. It’s set to expire on September 30, 2015 if Congress doesn’t act to reauthorize it. That’s less than 100 days from now – barely a Montana summer. Montanans don’t want to see that happen. A University of Montana survey found that 71 percent of Montanans support LWCF and poll after poll demonstrates bipartisan support for the value of public land by citizens across the West. Businesses want to locate in places with clean air and water and plenty of public land for recreation. Plus, Montana’s visitor and recreation industry, which is highly dependent on public land, brings in billions of dollars in direct spending along with state and local taxes. It also creates more than 60,000 jobs.
The outdoors is more than a way of life in Montana; it is integral to the health of our state economy and the essential to the livelihoods of many local communities. You see, the fund isn’t just about providing parks or fishing access sites. LWCF money has helped purchase conservation easements on family ranches, like that of the Rappolds on the Rocky Mountain Front. The family has been in ranching since 1882 and can’t imagine another way of life. Their easement not only enabled the family to continue the current operation, it made it possible for the next generation to join the family business. That’s why ranchers, timber companies, municipalities, sportsmen and many more urge Congress to fully support this important program.
For now, most of us just want to get out and savor all the joys of summer. We know how fleeting the season is in our beautiful state so we don’t have a minute to waste. But, let’s not take our bounty for granted. Make sure Congress knows that you support the LWCF and its reauthorization.
Eleanor Morris, Director of Strategic Initiatives
The Nature Conservancy in Montana