Take Action to Fund LWCF and Maintenance Backlogs

This is a news release from Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, an organization, along with Conservation Federation here in Missouri, that help us protect the public land outdoor resources that we enjoy. Pleas consider supporting these organizations, and please consider contacting your Senators to solicit their support for this legislation.

In a show of bipartisan and bicameral solidarity, Sens. Manchin (D-WV) and Gardner (R-CO) and Reps. Joe Cunningham (D-SC) and Mike Simpson (R-ID) and many other senators and representatives introduced legislation, the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), addressing maintenance backlogs on public lands and ensuring full, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the nation’s most popular and successful access and conservation program. 

 

GAOA would appropriate the full $900 million annually allocated to LWCF in addition to providing $1.9 billion annually through fiscal year 2025 to address the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Education accumulating maintenance backlogs on roads, trails, facilities and aquatic structures. 

Hunters and anglers rely on access sites funded by the LWCF, which has supported projects in all counties across the United States. As hunter numbers decline nationwide – leading to a corresponding decline in license-based conservation funding – sportsmen and women cite a lack of public access as the single greatest impediment to time afield. We need LWCF to receive full funding to support hunters, anglers, and our $778-billion outdoor recreation economy.  

 

Last year, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation that secures the future of LWCF. Now we have the opportunity to ensure that public land managers have the resources they need to responsively oversee critical lands and waters – and advance conservation and access projects that make our communities more livable, strengthen our economy and uphold our legacy of public lands, waters and wildlife.

 

GAOA is a big win for hunters, anglers, conservationists and other outdoor enthusiasts. Expanding funding allocations to other public land management agencies is essential in gaining broad stakeholder support. These agencies manage the public lands most important to hunting and fishing and face funding deficits due to crumbling infrastructure. We need to repair roads and bridges to enhance access and recreational opportunities on all public lands — not just on our National Parks Service lands.

Please join Backcountry Hunters & Anglers in supporting this critical effort. Contact your lawmakers today and urge them to support the Great American Outdoors Act!

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO CONTACT YOUR SENATORS