NRPA urges Congress to fund LWCF State assistance program

From the National Recreation and Park Association -- see update on program elimination

The Land and Water Conservation Fund state assistance program is threatened with termination in the FY 2006 budget. The LWCF program provides matching grants for local and state park land acquisition, recreation facility development, and open space conservation. These grants enable creation of local sports fields, state and local parks, and community recreation areas. Over 40,000 local and state park, recreation, and conservation projects have been completed in virtually every county in the US since the program began in 1965.

The President's proposed budget recommends termination of the program, even though congress has funded the program at an average of $100 million a year since FY 2001. Congress will soon determine whether the program will continue, and if so, at what funding level. Your help is needed to save this valuable program. LWCF is vital to ensuring our nation's health by providing opportunities to all Americans for active recreation on public lands close to home. Please take action to support this important program and ask your U.S. Representative and Senators to support funding of $100 million for the LWCF state assistance program in FY 2006.

What's At Stake:

The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 authorized a program that provides matching grants to States and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas and facilities. For forty years, the program has created and maintained a nationwide legacy of high quality recreation areas and facilities. As matching grant recipients, state and local governments agree to manage grant-assisted resources in perpetuity with non-federal funds. LWCF grants have stimulated non-federal investments in the protection and maintenance of recreation resources across the United States.

For nearly four decades the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been the single most important source of federal funds for investments in public recreation resources and public lands for conservation and recreation, especially at the state and local levels. The LWCF has fulfilled its promise "to increase the number of state and local outdoor recreation resources and ensure their availability for public use in perpetuity." Since the program's inception 40 years ago, it has provided over $3.25 billion in assistance to 98% of all U.S. counties.

Our nation's fiscal health depends on its physical health. Centers for Disease Control has indicated that active recreation activities are just as healthful and more appealing to the public than traditional fitness exercising and promotion.

Getting Americans to be more active could significantly decrease billions in healthcare expenditures each year.