Stop playing political games with the Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was passed by Congress in 1965 as part of a compromise that allowed for oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and it was intended to provide an offset for our citizens for allowing the drawing down of this finite resource. The LWCF Trust Fund, provided by this offset not taxpayer's dollars, was suppose to provide $900M annually but throughout the decades that have elapsed since then, the Congressional Appropriation has only fully funded it once. Continuing this dismal record, the last decade has seen a steady decline in appropriations to the point that this year’s Continuing Resolutions have left the program barely on life support. This isn’t fair to the citizens of our country, providing them with no offset while mocking their 1965 compromise.

There have been wonderful benefits provided by the reinvesting of revenues from our depleting energy resources into conservation. They have protected our public lands, and provided access to close-to-home outdoor recreation opportunities for all of our citizens. Last year national polling reported that a broad cross-section of the American public overwhelmingly supported preserving natural areas and open space. In addition, 81 percent of the public believed the continuance of a dedicated funding stream from federal oil and gas leasing (again NOT TAXPAYER'S DOLLARS) should be used to fund the LWCF. Both the LWCF federal program and the state assistance program have provided countless untold benefits to all Americans and they understand that, as the polling dramatically demonstrates.