On August 4, the president signed the Great American Outdoors Act (H.R. 1957), solidifying what is arguably the most important conservation legislation we’ve seen in decades. The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) will permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) while providing up to $1.9 billion a year to address the backlog of essential maintenance at forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands.
As the state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, full funding for the LWCF has been a significant priority for Prairie Rivers Network for many years. It aligns with our mission to heal land and to ensure that wildlife and people have access to healthy natural spaces.
History and Summary of the Land and Water Conservation Fund
First considered by Congress in 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been a staple for conservation in the United States since it was enacted. The premise of the Fund is simple yet effective: collect money from fees paid by offshore drilling companies and dedicate it to the restoration and preservation of natural areas. In theory, $900 million is deposited into the LWCF account every year, but billions of dollars have been diverted away from the program.
The program has also experienced inaction from Congress over the past decade. Lawmakers allowed the LWCF to expire in 2015 and 2018 and had to temporarily reauthorize it each time. Despite this and many other obstacles, the LWCF has been essential to conservation practices in all 50 states and has supported over 41,000 state and local park projects. Finally, in February of 2019, the Senate and the House of Representatives permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund. While this bill didn’t include permanent funding, it was a step in the right direction.
Environmental groups across the country continued to push legislators to come up with a solid foundation for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. With the Great American Outdoors Act now signed into law, the LWCF has received full, permanent funding, and billions of dollars will be available to address the backlog of maintenance projects on public lands across the country.
Implications for Illinois
Permanent funding for the LWCF is significant news for Illinois. Since the program’s creation and subsequent grant opportunities, the state has received more than $223 million. These funds have been used to protect some of Illinois’ most pristine places like Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge and Shawnee National Forest.
You can use this map to see all of the projects that have been completed and funded in your county with the help of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Read PRN’s press release on the Great American Outdoors Act issued on August 4th.
