The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

' Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a

federal program In the United States, federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, or activity provided by the federal government that directly assists domestic governm ...

that was established by

Act of Congress An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called private laws), or to the general public ( public laws). For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both house ...

in 1965 to provide funds and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and easements on land and water, for the benefit of all Americans.Land and Water Conservation Fund
Lands and Realty Management, USDA Forest Service The main emphases of the fund are recreation and the protection of national natural treasures in the forms of parks and protected forest and wildlife areas. The LWCF has a broad-based coalition of support and oversight, including the

National Parks Conservation Association The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Par ...

Environment America Environment America is a federation of state-based environmental advocacy organizations in the United States. The organization researches and advocates for environmental policies through lobbying, litigation, and the mobilization of public suppor ...

, The Wilderness Society, the

Land Trust Alliance Land Trust Alliance is a nature conservation organization, based in Washington, D.C. The Alliance represents many land trusts across the United States. History Originally formed as the Land Trust Exchange in Boston on February 22, 1982, Allan Sp ...

, the

Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

, the

National Wildlife Federation The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (includin ...

, and

The Conservation Fund The Conservation Fund is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a dual charter to pursue environmental preservation and economic development. From 2008–2018, it has placed more than 500,000 acres under conservation management through a program w ...

. In August 2020, the

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

signed the

Great American Outdoors Act The Great American Outdoors Act (H.R. 1957) is a piece of legislation passed by the United States Congress, signed by President Donald J. Trump, and activated into Public Law (Public Law No. 116-152) in 2020. It has two major components: fully an ...

into law, which requires that the LWCF be funded at $900 million yearly, a significant increase from previous funding levels.

Funding

The primary source of income to the fund is fees and royalties paid to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement by oil and gas drilling offshore in federal water for oil and gas. Congress regularly diverts most of the funds from this source to other purposes, however. Additional minor sources of income include the sale of surplus federal real estate and taxes on motorboat fuel. Funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund have been utilized over the years on projects both large and small. LWCF has helped state agencies and local communities acquire nearly seven million acres (28,000 km²) of land and easements controlling further land, developed project sites including such popular recreational areas as

Harper's Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

in West Virginia, California's

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ...

Coast, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in Montana, helped maintain

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowst ...

, and helped to build and maintain "thousands of local playgrounds, soccer fields, and baseball diamonds."Federal Programs: Land and Water Conservation Fund
, Trust for Public Land Though LWCF is authorized with a budget cap of $900 million annually, this cap has been met only twice during the program's nearly four decades of existence. As of 2015 the program generated about $2.5 million a day from leases on offshore oil and gas drilling. The program is divided into two distinct funding pools: state grants and federal acquisition funds. The distribution formula takes into account population density and other factors. On the federal side, each year, based on project demands from communities as well as input from the federal land management agencies, the President makes recommendations to Congress regarding funding for specific LWCF projects. In Congress, these projects go through an Appropriations Committee review process. Given the intense competition among projects, funding is generally only provided for those projects with universal support. Initially authorized for a twenty-five-year period, the LWCF has been extended for another twenty-five years, lasting until January 2015. In October 2015, describing it as a "

slush fund A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...

Rob Bishop Robert William Bishop (born July 13, 1951) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he became the dean of Utah's congressional delegation after the retirement of ...

of Utah, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, had blocked a vote on reauthorization. Ruben Gallego LCWF protest

The legal authorization of the LWCF expired on Sunday, September 30, 2018. The Land and Water Conservation Fund was permanently reauthorized as part of the bipartisan John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed into law on March 12, 2019. It requires at least 40% of funds to be used by federal agencies and at least 40% to be allocated to the states. The Dingell Act, however, did not provide permanent funding for the LWCF, merely permanent authorization. In 2020, the

was introduced by

Cory Gardner Cory Scott Gardner (born August 22, 1974) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional dis ...

( R- CO) on March 9th, 2020, during the

116th United States Congress The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on Janu ...

. It would fully and permanently fund the LWCF. Considered unusually bipartisan in nature in the context of the 116th Congress, the bill attracted 59 co-sponsors, both Democrats and Republicans. On June 9th, 2020, it passed a procedural vote 80-17 and moved to full consideration before the Senate. President Trump expressed a willingness to sign the act after being shown an impressive picture of land within

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is an American national park located in western Colorado and managed by the National Park Service. There are two primary entrances to the park: the south rim entrance is located east of Montrose, while ...

protected by LWCF funds, despite previously opposing the LWCF. The Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on August 4, 2020.

Notes

External links

{{Commons category
An interactive map of all the projects funded by the LWCF county by county across the US
* ttp://www.conservationfund.org/?article=2012&back=true (The Conservation Fund) Mike McQueen, 2000. "Land and Water Conservation Fund: An assessment of its past, present and future"br>LWCF CoalitionLWCF grants database
Federal assistance in the United States Nature conservation organizations based in the United States 1965 establishments in the United States National Park Service Conservation projects in the United States