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Conserving America's Landscapes
A publication of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition
ASK: Fully Fund the LWCF at $900 million
NWRA is part of a coalition of organizations working to increase funding for federal land acquisitions. The Refuge System is mandated to be strategically grown, but years of inadequate funding for land acquisition has resulted in the loss of many important habitats. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was created to ensure our nation’s most treasured resources and natural areas are protected for future generations but without strong support from Congress, the program’s full potential to protect refuges and other public lands will not be realized.
Background
The LWCF was established by Congress in 1965 to meet the nation’s growing desire to preserve natural areas, culturally and historically significant landmarks, and provide opportunities for outdoor recreation. The Act designated that a portion of receipts from offshore oil and gas leases be placed into a fund annually for state and local conservation, as well as for the protection of our national treasures such as national wildlife refuges, national parks and forests. The LWCF program has added millions of acres to all our public lands – approximately 1.5 million acres of the NWRS were acquired through the LWCF.
Despite LWCF’s strong track record of success over the past 44 years, the program faces enormous challenges. Lands with significant historic, cultural, and wildlife values are rapidly being converted to other uses. Factors that are responsible for this trend include increasing land values, population growth, and the development of the rural-urban fringe. Yet, in the face of escalating development pressures, funding for the LWCF has declined precipitously in the past seven years.
Funding History
LWCF is authorized at $900 million annually, a level that has only been reached once during the program's 40-year history. The program is divided into two distinct funding pots: State grants and Federal acquisition funds. In the past ten years, program funding has followed a dramatic decline, with a total of only $156 million in fiscal year (FY) 2008. Funding for land acquisition in the NWRS is only a portion of that; for FY 2009, the Administration’s request for refuge acquisitions was only $900,000!
The recorded balance in offshore oil revenues credited to, but not appropriated to, the LWCF is approaching $17 billion. LWCF funding for federal land acquisition has dropped from $445 million in FY 2001 to $130 million in fiscal year 2008.
Along with declines in program funding, each of the four federal land agencies have experienced significant reductions in realty staffing, due to both retirement and diminished funding, seriously hindering their ability to effectively administer land acquisition programs. Between 2001 and 2008 funding cuts to the Fish and Wildlife Service have resulted in a more than 30% reduction in professional realty staff from 204 to 138 full time equivalent (FTE) positions.
The graph below shows the funding trend in LWCF dollars (in thousands) for the NWRS:
Strategic Growth of the Refuge System – Climate Change
Perhaps the greatest opportunity for protecting land necessary to abate the impacts of climate change is in dedicating a portion of the total emissions allowances in the early years of a cap-and-trade program toward an auction generating critical new funding for federal and state natural resources agencies, including the LWCF.
Congress should ensure that at least $900 million annually of these funds, consistent with the underlying principle of the LWCF, are dedicated to long-term protection of our nation’s land and water resources.
Ask for FY10
NWRA and our partners in the LWCF Coalition are urging Congress to fully fund the LWCF at $900 million with a minimal commitment of $450 million in FY10 to reach this goal as quickly as possible.
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2/26/09 Press Release: Coalition Urges Full Funding of Land Conservation Programs (pdf)
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