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.