Conservation program is vital to local communities

For more than five decades, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been contributing to recreation and conservation projects all around the nation. Every state, perhaps even every county, has been touched by this phenomenal tool.

Recently, Congress passed a historic public lands package that included permanent reauthorization for the fund — which is fantastic news. There is, however, one hurdle the program still needs to clear: funding.

Every year, the Land and Water Conservation Fund is authorized to receive up to $900 million in offshore royalties; no taxpayer dollars fund the program. But each year, chunks of that amount are appropriated elsewhere by Congress. Typically, the Land and Water Conservation Fund receives about half — or less — of the full amount.

This is a problem that needs to be remedied because funding is what allows the program to affect outdoor recreation and local economies.

Businesses and professionals are choosing to locate in communities with access to the outdoors. Outdoor recreation is an $887 billion — and growing — industry in which many areas are investing. The Land and Water Conservation Fund helps communities invest in this proven economic driver through its myriad contributions to recreation and conservation. The fund has helped conserve national parks and forests; land by rivers, lakes and oceans; working farms and ranches; fish and wildlife refuges; trails; and state and local parks.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund has contributed more than $319 million to recreation and conservation projects in New Mexico, including projects like the Sandia Foothills, one of 84 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant projects in Bernalillo County alone. The fund also has made possible pools, playgrounds and city parks all around the nation, including Phil Chacon Park in Albuquerque. Elsewhere, the fund has contributed to the Gila, Cibola, Santa Fe and Carson national forests, as well as to the Rio Grande.

The fund also has contributed to several of our national parks, which, according to a National Park Service study done in 2016, generated $108.4 million for local communities.

As the owner of an outdoor recreation business, I know firsthand how important programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund are. I also know the need for program funding is great, which is why I recently went to Washington, D.C., to meet with staff for Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., and the Senate and House appropriations committees, to urge them to push for full funding for the program in the fiscal year 2020 budget. I’m very grateful Haaland has been a great supporter of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, but full funding is the next step, and we need her leadership to help urge others in Congress to ensure the Land and Water Conservation Fund receives the funding it deserves going forward.

I urge our New Mexico delegation to advocate for full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund going forward. The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a critical investment in New Mexico communities, and with the program fully funded, we can expect even greater returns from our public lands.