U.S. communities to get $95 million from Land and Water Conservation Fund
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Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has announced that nearly $95 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund will be distributed throughout the United States for local conservation and recreation projects.
With matching funds from local private and public agencies, communities have preserved land and built parks, baseball fields and boat docks, according to a press release from Jewell’s office.
Communities have received grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund since it was established in 1965, funded by part of the lease revenue from oil and gas development offshore.but only once in the past 50 years has Congress appropriated the full $900 million authorized under the law.
President Barack Obama has requested the full $900 million for the 2017 budget and proposed legislation to establish mandatory funding at that amount each year, the press release said.
Late last year, Congress temporarily allowed the Fund to expire.
“Chronic uncertainty and underfunding have made it increasingly challenging for local, state and federal partners to use this important conservation tool,” the press release said.
To see how much your state is getting, see the list of allocations at the Dept. of the Interior’s website.
