Among the lumps of coal — riders attached to the omnibus spending bill that Congress passed and President Obama signed recently — were a few diamonds, including the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund that expired for the first time in its 50-year history at the end of September.
The fund provides matching grants for national and state public-lands acquisitions and development of parks and recreation programs. It is funded by royalties paid by the oil and gas industry for off-shore drilling leases.
Since its inception 50 years ago, the fund has enjoyed bipartisan support when it came up for reauthorization. But this year, following Senate passage, a bill that would have permanently authorized the program idled in the House as Republican leadership refused to even allow the bill a committee hearing. The scramble to approve the must-pass omnibus spending bill, however, freed up the legislation. It wasn’t the permanent reauthorization sought by supporters — among them, Democratic Senators. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Democratic Rep. Derek Kilmer, and Republican Rep. Dave Reichert — but the program will continue for at least three years and received $450 million for 2016, a boost over its 2015 funding but still half of its intended budget of $900 million.
In Washington state, the program can now distribute nearly $10 million in funding that will fill in gaps along the Pacific Crest Trail to improve safety and public access; protect working forests near Mount St. Helens; protect watershed along the Yakima River to ensure clean water for farms, fisheries and communities; acquire property to protect fisheries and water quality near Lake Quinault in the Olympic National Park; and purchase 165 acres of historic farmland at Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve on Whidbey Island.
Two projects of local interest likely to receive grants include:
— $500,000 for the Kitsap County Parks and Recreation Department’s acquisition of 200 acres for the development of a mountain bike trail, with riding loops and skill obstacle elements, in Port Gamble. The proposed trail is located next to the 543-acre Port Gamble Shoreline Park. It would be a link in the Sound-to-Olympics regional trail and part of a system of connected multi-use trails designed to promote healthy lifestyles and provide residents of all ages and abilities with diverse outdoor recreation activities. Kitsap County will match the funds with cash and a grant from the state Wildlife and Recreation Program.
— $322,362 toward the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s acquisition of 64 acres containing a sacred site known as Tamanowas Rock, next to Anderson Lake State Park on the Quimper Peninsula in Jefferson County. Jamestown S’Klallam will preserve the land for passive outdoor recreational uses and for Tribal ceremonial and cultural uses. This land contains mostly second-growth forest, with some patches of old growth and wetlands, and is home to numerous wildlife species, including an elk herd. The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe will match the grant.
When the Land and Water Conservation Fund is again before Congress for reauthorization, that approval should be made permanent, removing the program from what has become a process vulnerable to partisan politics and the whims of obstructionists.
Introduced by Sen. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson in 1964, the fund has provided more than $500 million in funding in Washington alone. It has more than proved its value in protecting public lands, supporting recreational businesses and encouraging families to explore the nation’s natural heritage.
