The Land and Water Conservation Fund
What is the Land and Water Conservation Fund?
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a visionary and bipartisan program, established by Congress in 1965 "to assist in preserving, developing, and assuring accessibility to all citizens of the United States of America 'of present and future generations ' outdoor recreation resources ' to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States." (Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965)
From parks and national forest lands to playgrounds, wilderness to wetlands, bicycle paths to hiking trails, LWCF has helped communities acquire nearly seven million acres of public land, water resources, and open space. With funds mainly derived from royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling in US coastal waters, LWCF is one of the most important conservation tools ever designed.
When LWCF was authorized, a stable funding mechanism was envisioned, but for a number of reasons it was not enacted by Congress. The philosophy behind the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 was to make permanent conservation investments to offset the environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction from our publicly owned resources. The intent was to direct these proceeds toward the purchase and development of lands that would benefit the American people in perpetuity by providing additional recreation and conservation benefits, especially in areas such as the East where public lands were and are in short supply.
However, that did not happen. The LWCF accumulates $900 million annually, but these monies cannot be spent unless appropriated by Congress. Congress determines the level of appropriations each year. These appropriations have fluctuated widely since the origin of the program. Unappropriated funds remain in the U.S. Treasury and can be directed toward other federal activities. Between 1965 and 2006, about $29 billion has been credited to the LWCF. About half of this ($14.3 billion) has been appropriated for federal, state, and other programs. Funding peaked in 2001, partly in response to President Clinton's Lands Legacy Initiative. LWCF allocated funds have steadily decreased since 2001.
How does SAFC work on LWCF?
SAFC is a key member and has assisted the Eastern Forest Partnership (EFP) with identifying and advocating for adding priority areas of southeastern private land to the public trust through federal appropriations funding programs such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Forest Legacy Program, which also derives its monies from the LWCF fund. Here are just a few ways in which we work on LWCF:
- Generate letters of support for priority projects
- Educate the relevant members of Congress about priority projects
- Participate in summits with a goal of increasing Eastern Forest Partnership's organizational membership
- Collaborate with and provide resources such as, GIS data, maps, Conservation Vision, and research to key alliance partners
LWCF An Important Tool for the Rapidly Growing South
The Southeast region is experiencing significant population growth, which threatens the 25 million acres of forested lands within national forest purchase boundaries. While similar pressures on forested resources are occurring in other parts of the nation, Forest Service research, as well as other independent research, ranks the Southeast as the area of the country that is losing valuable open space at the fastest rate and whose forest resources are most at risk. It is also significant that the Southeast ranks last in the nation in the percentage of the land (52%) owned by the Forest Service within its purchase boundaries. This results in very fragmented ownership pattern. It also leaves our public lands vulnerable to development pressures that fragment the landscape and degrade the conservation and recreation function of our public lands.
The situation in the Southeast has never been more urgent. Rapid population growth and development have combined to pose a very serious threat to the future of forested lands in the Southeast. This creates both a problem and an opportunity that many are working to address. In many cases, LWCF funds can leverage non-federal funds to reduce the cost of acquisitions to the agency, but these opportunities may be lost forever if the federal government does not come through with its share. The federal government is by no means alone in addressing this issue, but it is an essential partner if we are to successfully protect southern forest resources. In many cases, if these lands are not put into conservation ownership soon, they will be developed. The Regional office of the Forest Service is identifying outstanding projects for LWCF funding but these projects have not been advancing into the president's budget and with a few exceptions are not being approved by Congress.
Various U.S. Forest Service research reports have highlighted key findings to consider about the future of the southern forests:
- The Southeast experienced the highest growth of any region in the country from 1982 to 1997, losing 6.5 million acres to development ('Cooperating Across Boundariesr, US Forest Service, 2006)
- Of the 15 watersheds with the highest projected housing density growth, nine are located in Region 8 ('Forests on the Edge', US Forest Service, May 2005)
- The Southeast produces the most timber in the country and has 89 percent of its forests in private ownership ('Southern Forest Resource Assessment', US Forest Service, 2002)
- The Southern Forest Resource assessment predicted that 'about 12 million acres of southern forest will be urbanized between 1992 and 2020. Nineteen million acres of forest are forecast to be developed between 2020 and 2040.' ('Southern Forest Resource Assessment', US Forest Service, 2002)
- The Southeast contains high plant and wildlife diversity including 1,208 vertebrate species, of which 132 are 'of concern' and 28 are critically imperiled.
- Approximately 11% of people in the Southeast hunt and 32% fish. National Forests are one of the primary areas where these activities occur.
Within this context, the lack of funding for LWCF in general and the lack of funding for LWCF projects in the southeast in particular are troubling. In line with the original intent of the Land and Water Conservation Act, LWCF funding is critically needed in the region to assure opportunities for recreation, open space preservation, wildlife habitat protection and economic benefit to local communities.