Rep. Neguse, Sen. Wyden Advocate for Continued Support of Land and Water Conservation Fund

Lafayette, CO — Congressman Joe Neguse, Chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) wrote to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and other Biden Administration Cabinet officials requesting they increase investments to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in Fiscal Year 2024. The letter, signed by over 30 lawmakers, requested that the President’s Budget Request for FY24 include $450 million in discretionary funding for LWCF, to complement the mandatory allocations provided by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). 

“As Chair of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee, I am committed to promoting programs across this country that work to conserve our public lands and improve outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans. The LWCF works in partnership with leaders from all levels of government to ensure that our treasured spaces are protected for generations to come. We must make sure that as they grow, our support for their initiatives grows with them,” said Congressman Joe Neguse.  

"The Land and Water Conservation Fund is America’s most important conservation program. It is vital for increasing recreation access in Oregon and across the country, which in turn supports rural economies and allows folks of all ages enjoy better access to public lands for recreation, hunting, fishing, biking, hiking, or paddling. I am all in to protect our landscapes and improve our recreational opportunities, and that means securing more LWCF funding,” said Senator Wyden.

The lawmakers continued, writing: “We are writing to express our support for strengthening the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), our nation’s most important conservation and recreation program. LWCF supports an array of benefits, from protecting drinking water and conserving natural infrastructure, to providing landscape conservation, habitat protection, and outdoor recreation access for all. The program and its many benefits are critical to preserving America’s most treasured landscapes for future generations. However, LWCF needs increased investment in Fiscal Year 2024 to address all the outstanding conservation and recreation priorities across the country.” 

Read the full letter HERE. 

“The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and its many benefits are critical to preserving America’s most treasured landscapes and bolstering our local and national outdoor recreation economies. To meet the many outstanding conservation and recreation needs across the country, LWCF requires additional investment,” said Tom Cors, director of U.S. government relations for lands at The Nature Conservancy and a spokesman for the LWCF Coalition. “The LWCF Coalition thanks Congressman Neguse, Senator Wyden, and the bipartisan champions urging the Biden-Harris Administration to include $450 million in discretionary LWCF funding in its FY24 budget request to complement the mandatory allocations provided by the Great American Outdoors Act. Now is the time for us to make significant progress toward our collective conservation and recreation goals to avoid the loss of lands and waters that comprise American landscapes, improve climate resilience, and create more outdoor recreation opportunities for all.” 

“We want to thank Senator Wyden, Congressman Neguse, and the thirty-four bipartisan Members of Congress who have signed this letter supporting increased investment in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). In Oregon, we thrive in part due to open spaces, parks, and public lands funded by LWCF. LWCF protects our water, provides access to the outdoors to improve our health, and supports Oregon’s robust outdoor recreation economy. Protecting and growing LWCF to fund the countless conservation and recreation projects in Oregon is key to supporting our local communities,” said Kelley Beamer, Executive Director, Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts. “We recently joined the LWCF Coalition in Washington D.C. to meet with congressional leaders and staff to thank them for their support of LWCF and to urge them to increase investment in this hugely successful program - the message was well-received. I am proud of this robust, bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives for signing on to this letter and like them, we urge the Biden-Harris Administration and our congressional leaders to grow LWCF funding to protect more lands and waters for generations to come.”

“There is a growing backlog of conservation and recreation needs in the West, and across the country,” said Jim Petterson, Mountain West Region Vice President for Trust for Public Land. “Many communities are seeking funding for improved public access and land protection from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Unfortunately, without additional LWCF resources today, many opportunities will be lost. TPL strongly supports this bipartisan request to the Biden Administration to increase its fiscal year 2024 budget request in order to tackle the growing backlog of conservation priorities”

The letter was co-signed by a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers including U.S. Senators Bennet (D-CO), Blumenthal (D-CT), Burr (D-NC), Durbin (D-IL), Feinstein (D-CA), Heinrich (D-NM), Kaine (D-VA), Klobuchar (D-MN), Luján (D-NM), Markey (D-MA), Padilla (D-CA), Sanders (D-VT), Shaheen (D-NH), Warner (D-VA), Warnock (D-GA), Warren (D-MA) and Representatives Blumenauer (D-OR), Bonamici (D-OR), Case (D-HI), DeFazio(D-OR), Dingell (D-MI), Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Golden (D–ME), Huffman (D-CA), Katko (R-NY), Kuster (D-NH), Leger Fernandez (D-NM), McGovern (D-MA), O'Halleran (D-AZ), Pappas (D-NH), Payne (D-NJ, Thompson (D-CA), and Welch (D-VT). 

Since coming to Congress, Congressman Neguse has urged full funding for LWCF. This year, he penned several letters requesting continued investments in the LWCF, one with Senator King and another with Senator Wyden, to expand access to outdoor recreation and put local communities at the forefront in restoring public lands. Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Congressman Neguse led over 100 legislators to request strong funding for COVID-19 economic relief for the LWCF and other federal programs that serve as the foundation of the outdoor recreation industry. In June 2020, Congressman Joe Neguse helped secure passage of the Great American Outdoors Act out of the U.S. House of Representatives, which would fully fund the LWCF at $900 million and invest $9.5 billion in the public lands maintenance backlog. 

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