songas applauds President for funding critical conservation program, the Land & Water Conservation Fund
WASHINGTON, DC – February 5, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Niki Tsongas today released a statement in support of the news that President Obama will request full funding and permanent reauthorization in his upcoming budget for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
The LWCF is an instrumental conservation program that GOP leaders allowed to expire last year. Congresswoman Tsongas, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Federal Lands Subcommittee, championed LWCF reauthorization throughout 2015. As a result of her and her colleagues’ efforts, the LWCF was reauthorized for three years in December, 2015.
Congresswoman Tsongas released the following statement:
“For over 50 years, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has carried out a simple bipartisan idea: use revenues from the depletion of one federal resource, offshore oil and gas, to conserve another, our land and water, and provide recreation opportunities for all Americans. It does not cost taxpayer money or contribute to the Federal deficit, relying instead on royalties paid by oil and gas companies in exchange for their right to develop offshore resources in waters that belong to all of the American people.
“LWCF has proven to be a critical tool to protect some of our nation’s most significant cultural and historic sites, protecting places that have shaped and defined who we are as a people, and a country, and would not have been protected without support from the federal government.
“I appreciate President Obama making LWCF a priority in his upcoming budget proposal, and it reflects his longstanding leadership and commitment to helping preserve our nation’s treasures for our children and grandchildren. We all know the Land and Water Conservation Fund is instrumental in this effort, which is why I so strongly advocated for its reauthorization over the past year.
“While my colleagues and I were able to push back against GOP leaders determined to undermine the LWCF and successfully re-up the program last year, there is still work to do to ensure it is appropriately funded and permanently reauthorized. President Obama’s budget proposal is an important step. I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress to follow his lead as the FY2017 appropriations process moves forward.
