Tell Your Rep to Reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund

From PennEnvironment (http://www.pennenvironment.org):

Gettysburg, Valley Forge, the Flight 93 Memorial, and the Delaware Water Gap were all protected by the same landmark conservation fund.

And yet, in September, Congress let the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) lapse, putting critical conservation projects and public lands maintenance in jeopardy. Now that Congress is back in session, we have to make sure they reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund as quickly as possible, so our public lands — from national parks to the places we love here in Pennsylvania — are protected.

Tell your representative to reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund at https://pennenvironment.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=30606.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a successful, bipartisan program that has funded projects across Pennsylvania and all 50 states in the U.S. since it was first created in 1965. The program, which has been dormant for months, supports everything from the expansion and maintenance of local parks and recreation centers to national forests, national parks, and historical sites.¹

Since its creation, LWCF has supported over 40,000 state projects, created $3.9 billion in state grants and protected 2.37 million acres of land. In Pennsylvania alone, LWCF has provided more than $309 million in funding support, from well-known places like the Appalachian Trail and French Creek State Park to local projects like public parks and recreational facilities in counties and municipalities across the Commonwealth.²

But due to Congress’s failure to act last fall, these projects are going unfunded. Now that Congress is back in session, it is time to tell our representatives to protect our public lands.

Stand up for our parks and public lands.

PennEnvironment and our national network have been working to get LWCF reauthorized since its lapse in September. In Pennsylvania, we’ve had dozens of news stories printed across the state, gotten thousands of Pennsylvanians to write, email, and call their members of Congress, and put up billboards calling on state residents to reach out to their Congressperson. Our national conservation team has been working the halls on Capitol Hill to advocate for LWCF with Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation and their staff.

Now, we need your help.

Email your Congressperson today and tell them to save the program that’s saved so many of the nation’s parks and public lands.

Then, send this email to friends and family members and ask them to do the same.

1. “Land and Water Conservation Fund,” U.S. Department of the Interior, 2018.
2. “Save the Land and Water Conservation Fund,” Pennsylvania Environmental Council, 2018.