Unique, popularconservation resource hangs in the balance!

Let’s permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Fund!

A much-loved tool for conserving forests, parklands, and waters in America is up for reauthorization—the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

Established in 1965, the LWCF has provided billions of dollars for federal, state, and local acquisition of key private lands for purposes of recreation and conservation.

But unless specifically reauthorized by Congress, the highly successful LWCF expires at the end of September 2015!

The fund’s revenues do not come from government coffers, but rather from offshore oil and gas exploration projects.

California has received about $2.3 billion in LWCF funding over the past 50 years, helping to safeguard places such as Lake Tahoe Basin, Headwaters Forest, and national forests of the Sierra Nevada.

Protection of these lands and waters has helped to generate billions of dollars in local revenue and hundreds of thousands of jobs in California alone.

We have an opportunity to support the fund’s permanent reauthorization, rather than continue to subject it to intermittent political squabbling. House Resolution (H.R.) 1814, authored by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) would permanently reauthorize the fund.

While several members of the California delegation already are co-sponsors of the measure, too many are not yet on board. At this writing the following likely co-sponsors need to hear from their constituents: Aguilar, Bass, Bera, Brownley, Chu, Costa, Davis, Farr, Garamendi, Hahn, Lieu, Matsui, Napolitano, Peters, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Takano, Torres, Vargas, and Waters.

Click here to contact your California House member today, urging them to lend their support for H.R. 1814, and if they are on the above list, to co-sponsor the legislation.

RESOURCES:

  • Gov. Jerry Brown recently set up a Forest Climate Action Team (FCAT) composed of top officials from California’s natural resources agencies, state and federal forestland managers, and others. Their task is to develop a Forest Carbon Plan by the end of 2016.

    Concerned citizens who, like Forests Forever, want to see the state fix its currently flawed cap-and-trade forestry protocols, may want to keep a close eye on the deliberations of FCAT. These broken protocols currently allow industrial clearcutters to reap lucrative windfall profits in the new cap-and-trade market. Click here to receive FCAT updates.
  • FORESTS FOREVER introduces its Targeted Action utility! This allows you to log on to our latest action alert and either send the suggested message to our target decisionmakers or modify the message to fit your own vocabulary! If you haven’t yet written to Pres. Obama urging him to save California’s Berryessa / Snow Mountain region, click here to take targeted action!


Know anyone looking for work in the Bay Area?
Have sons or daughters looking for a job in The City?
Forests Forever is Hiring!

If you know anyone who might be interested please send them our link https://www.forestsforever.org/jobs
or invite them to call (415) 974-3636 today!


 

Forests Forever:
Their Ecology, Restoration, and Protection
by
John J. Berger

NOW AVAILABLE
from Forests Forever Foundation
and the Center for American Places