From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):
Have you ever enjoyed an afternoon in a national park, state park or even neighborhood park?
Of course you have — but our parks are being undervalued in Congress, and they aren’t getting the funding they deserve. That’s why is calling for the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act.
The U.S. Senate could vote as early as this week – go to https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=38410 to tell Sens. Patrick J. Toomey and Robert P. Casey: Support the Great American Outdoors Act and protect our public lands.
The Great American Outdoors Act, sponsored by 59 senators from both parties, establishes a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to support maintenance projects on public lands and projects by the National Park Service, the Forest Service and more. It also ensures full funding of our country’s best conservation and recreation tool — the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).1
Since it was enacted in 1964, LWCF has served as the federal government’s primary funding tool for public lands. It supports outdoor spaces of all sizes — from some of our best known national parks to neighborhood ballparks — and has funded at least one project in every county in every state across the country.2
Unfortunately, LWCF has been consistently undervalued and underfunded by Congress, which routinely fails to allocate full funding to the program. This means that public lands go unprotected, and opportunities to enhance existing parks are missed. The Great American Outdoors Act would change that.
Since its introduction, a bipartisan group of lawmakers and more than eight hundred organizations have voiced their support of the bill — showing the widespread bipartisan enthusiasm for protecting and maintaining our public lands.3
By passing this legislation, our lawmakers have the chance to not only support our public lands, but to also ensure their protections for generations to come. The bill already has widespread support in Congress, but we need your help to get it across the finish line.
Tell Sens. Toomey and Casey: Stand up for our public lands and fund LWCF.
1. “S.3422- Great American Outdoors Act,” Congress.gov, March 9, 2020.
2. “Land and Water Conservation Fund,” National Park Service, January 8, 2020.
3. Ripon Advance News Service, “Gardner’s bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act lands supported of 800+ conservation leaders,” The Ripon Advance, May 27, 2020.
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