OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Floor Speech

Date: Sept. 16, 2015
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Environment

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Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, for more than 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has protected America's natural heritage. This fund is one of our Nation's most important conservation tools. Every single year, millions of Americans hike the trails that this fund has helped build, they visit the national parks that this fund helped create, and they enjoy the wildland vistas that it helped protect.

This fund has supported more than 40,000 projects in nearly every county in every State in our Nation. In my own district on California's north coast, it has funded projects in Redwood National Park, in Six Rivers National Forest, and in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Since 2004, it has helped add more than 1,000 acres to the King Range National Conservation Area, which is one of the most rugged and spectacular backpacking areas you will find anywhere in the continental United States. It is also known as the Lost Coast.

The positive impact that this fund has had is simply staggering. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has permanently protected 5 million acres of public lands, and that includes sections of American icons, like the Grand Canyon National Park and the Appalachian Trail. Best of all, it has done all of this at no taxpayer expense. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is financed by a portion of offshore drilling fees.

Congress needs to remember that preserving our natural heritage isn't just good for our environment; it is good for our economy. Outdoor recreation is a cornerstone for many local and State economies, bringing tourists from around the world to shop at local businesses, to eat at restaurants, to stay at hotels.

In California alone, outdoor recreation supports $85.4 billion in consumer spending and 732,000 jobs across the State; but in just 2 weeks, authorization of this fund will expire, leaving local economies in jeopardy, leaving our land managers struggling to make up for lost funding.

Fifty years ago, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund with an overwhelming bipartisan vote. I hope Congress can come together now to support H.R. 1814, a bipartisan bill sponsored by my friend Mr. Grijalva, that permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund. America's natural heritage and our economy depend on it.

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