On Oct. 2 in Washington, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced legislation that would renew the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which had lapsed on September 30. Since its creation in 1964, the fund has provided billions of dollars to support federal, state, and local parks, and other outdoor recreational and conservation areas. The legislation (S.896) that will now advance to the Senate floor would extend the LWCF for an indefinite period of time.
For New Jersey, the LWCF has provided hundreds of millions of dollars for projects in municipalities in every county. To locate LWCF projects in your area, you can visit the Interactive Project Map that is posted on the website hosted by The Wilderness Society.
The House Natural Resources Committee had already advanced an LWCF bill. That legislation (H.R. 502), which differs from the Senate bill, has yet to be scheduled for a Floor Vote in that Chamber.
Until the LWCF is renewed, revenues that had been directed to the Fund will, instead, flow into the U.S. Treasury for general purposes. For now, the Fund still has available revenues that can be used for recreational and conservation purposes.
For more information on the program, you can visit the National Park Service’s LWCF page, which was last updated on August 2, 2016.
Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njslom.org, 609-695-3481, x121.