Once-in-a-Generation Legislation for Public Lands Becomes Law

Washington, DC
2020-08-04

Today, the President signed into law historic legislation that will dramatically expand needed access to parks and public lands with the full, dedicated, and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) as part of the Great American Outdoors Act. The Act includes two components: providing $900 million per year automatically to LWCF, and significant investments in longstanding maintenance backlogs in our national parks, forests, and other public lands. Both the U.S. Senate and House passed the legislation with strong bipartisan support.

“Equitable access to the outdoors is essential,” said Diane Regas, President and CEO of The Trust for Public Land. “Full and permanent funding for LWCF is a huge step forward in providing the resources needed to create outdoor experiences in places they are needed most. I applaud our congressional champions who worked tirelessly over many years to get this done.”

Regas continued, “During this pandemic, we have seen that access to nature is more important than ever. But not everyone has a safe and quality place to get outside during this time. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that in far too many communities, parks and accessible natural areas are a privilege, when they should be a right. Nationwide, 100 million people—including 28 million kids—don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home. Additionally, state governments report needing $27 billion for local parks and recreation projects to expand access. The health benefits that parks, trails and public lands provide will be essential to our recovery from this crisis, and the long-term sustainability of our communities.”

The Trust for Public Land has created an interactive online map showing the places across the nation that could be permanently protected now that the LWCF has full, permanent funding, including:

Ohio: Cleveland Clark Avenue Park: This park will become a community anchor, nestled between two of the most vibrant, diverse neighborhoods in Cleveland and adjacent to the local elementary school and recreation center. The new park site will draw generations of families together, providing a civic space for local residents to gather, engage and advocate for issues plaguing their community. As an ethnically diverse community, the new park site will be grounds for summer produce markets, festivals and cultural events, concerts and other performing arts.
Colorado: Panorama Park: The re-imagination of this park will be the largest neighborhood park redevelopment project in the history of the Colorado Springs. Through a community-centered design process The Trust for Public Land will transform outdoor recreation accessibility for the diverse community in southeast Colorado Springs. Renovations will update aging infrastructure, add community identified amenities like fitness station, walking loops and inclusive play equipment, while addressing barriers to access and connecting the surrounding communities.
Oregon: Spence Mountain: This site contains 35 acres of trails in Klamath Falls which are enjoyed by local running and biking groups and provides explorers of all ability levels with the opportunity to get outside.

New Hampshire: Dundee Community Forest: Conserving over a thousand acres of forest in New Hampshire’s scenic Mount Washington Valley would boost the local forestry industry and make more space for hiking, hunting, mountain biking, and backcountry skiing.
Washington: Dewatto Forest: The lush lowland forests surrounding the Hood Canal in Washington State have supported generations of timber families, harbor wildlife, filter clean water for salmon and people, and provide open space for people to explore. The protection of this land from development will ensure sustainable forestry and public access to these woods forever.

Vermont: White Rocks Gateway: Located in the rolling mountains of Wallingford is 464 acres of unprotected forests and a portion of the dramatic quartzite cliffs of White Rocks. This property will protect the views from the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail by as an acquisition to the Green Mountain National Forest.

The Trust for Public Land is working to ensure this funding is used to bring parks and public lands where they’re needed most. By advocating for and helping to establish the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program and supporting projects that will serve communities who do not currently have access to quality outdoor spaces, the organization is working to drive this funding towards communities of color who do not historically have access to the outdoors because of legacies of disinvestment. The Trust for Public Land also continues to work to expand national parks and public lands into metropolitan areas where most Americans live. This includes the acquisition of land at places like Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco, Brown vs. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka, Cuyahoga Valley National Park in between Cleveland and Akron, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta and the creation of Stonewall National Monument in New York City and Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerque.

Additionally, as Congress considers its next economic stimulus and infrastructure package, The Trust for Public Land is leading a coalition of over 100 community organizations pushing historic investments in close-to-home parks.

About the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is the cornerstone of conservation in America. It directs fees from offshore oil and gas drilling to investments in parks and open space, while costing taxpayers nothing. Created in 1964, LWCF is authorized to receive $900 million a year for parks and conservation every year, but that funding has never been guaranteed. Instead, Congress has directed more than half of that funding to other purposes. This legislation for full and dedicated funding for LWCF will be the most significant parks and public lands law enacted in 50 years, and amounts to a 240 percent increase in LWCF funding for the next ten years, compared to the last ten years, which will allow for stable and predictable public funding to support long-term land conservation deals—and a massive expansion in federal support for our goal of creating a park within a 10-minute walk of every person in America.

LWCF is also vital for the United States’ economy. A 2014 National Park Service report found that National Parks support close to 240,000 jobs and generate over $14.6 billion in economic activity in gateway communities, or those areas leading into National Park Service units. LWCF investments also stimulate economic growth, supporting 7.6 million jobs and $887 billion in annual consumer spending on outdoor recreation, according to the Outdoor Industry Association.

The Trust for Public Land has been fighting for full and dedicated funding for LWCF for over 20 years, by building relationships with outdoor enthusiasts of all stripes, from birders to hunters, from cyclists to snowmobilers. The outdoor industry—an $887 billion economic powerhouse—joined this coalition en masse, along with small business owners in rural towns, parents in big cities whose kids don’t have a park to play in after school, timber industry associations and local elected officials and artists and public health advocates and teachers. Over time, the LWCF Coalition grew to include 1,400 organizations, with members in every state representing every position on the political spectrum.

History of LWCF funding:

8 million acres protected in all 50 states
$20 billion invested in communities since 1964
98 percent of U.S. counties have a park or open space funded by LWCF

More than 45,000 state and local park projects

The Following Partner Organizations Also Celebrated the News

Ice Age Trail Alliance

“The Ice Age National Scenic Trail partners are counting on the Land & Water Conservation Fund to help preserve several key properties at the Ice Age Reserve, Cross Plains Complex. The Complex will provide a national park-worthy experience mere minutes from Wisconsin’s second largest city. Preserving these lands will interpret some of the most unique geology along the 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail while providing a thought-provoking and stimulating canvas on which to showcase the Trail. “

-Kevin Thusius, Director of Land Conservation

The Conservation Fund

“Enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act is a pivotal, impactful moment for land conservation. The Conservation Fund stands ready to work collaboratively with public and private partners to implement this new LWCF funding to protect our treasured natural places and enhance outdoor recreational access. Our efforts to secure priority properties from willing sellers, bridging both timing and funding gaps, are often advanced to completion thanks to LWCF funding in order to achieve successful conservation outcomes for both people and the environment.”

-Larry Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund

The Wilderness Land Trust

“Permanently funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) allows The Wilderness Land Trust to continue protecting our nation’s designated wilderness areas. One prime example is the Organ Mountains Wilderness in New Mexico. This land is known for its steep mountain ranges, open woodlands and seasonal streams that provide critical habitat for golden eagles, hawks and owls. Our work in this area creates a potential new access point into this wilderness for hikers, horsemen, hunters, rock climbers and wilderness enthusiasts who frequent this beautiful area.”

-Aimee Rutledge, Vice President and Senior Lands Specialist, The Wilderness Land Trust

The Continental Divide Trail Coalition

“CDTC is thrilled that the GAOA has finally passed and now becomes one of the most important tools we have to aid in completing the CDNST across it’s entire 3,100 miles. Additionally, for the communities of color we connect along the Trail- GAOA helps us create more equitable access to the CDNST and provide spaces in our adjacent rural communities and the more backcountry portions of the CDNST, alike. We are grateful for the leadership all of our CDNST Congressionals provided to get this across the finish line and look forward to utilizing it on the CDNST as soon as possible!”

– Teresa Ana Martinez, Executive Director, Continental Divide Trail Coalition

“As this map demonstrates, a fully funded LWCF brings many opportunities to invest in conservation. From expanding outdoor recreation access for all people to improving water quality to protecting wildlife habitats, the breadth of potential LWCF projects across the country affirms the immense value of this conservation tool. Congress’s decision to fully and permanently fund LWCF through passage of the Great American Outdoors Act means we can do so much more to benefit diverse communities, local economies and our natural world.”

– Lynn Scarlett, Chief External Affairs Officer, The Nature Conservancy

About The Trust for Public Land

The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Millions of people live within a 10-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year. To support The Trust for Public Land and share why nature matters to you, visit www.tpl.org.

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