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After the House of Representatives passed the Natural Resources Management Act (S.47) by a convincing margin last week, Ed Perry called the move a great win for hunters, anglers and anybody who enjoys the outdoors.
Especially in Pennsylvania.
The act, which passed 363-62, included among a package of bills the reauthorization of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund, which uses royalty payments from offshore oil and gas drilling, has financed projects across the country and 1,500 in Pennsylvania related to parks, historical sites and outdoor recreation.
In Luzerne County, the LWCF has contributed money to help purchase State Game Lands and state parks, improve numerous municipal parks and trails, plus helped with many other projects.
On the federal side, the fund has been used to benefit the Appalachian Trail and Gettysburg National Park. For state projects, the fund is administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which doled out $5 million in 2018. Seventy of Pennsylvania’s 120 state parks have received LWCF funding, along with the Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Monroe County in 2008 and the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail.
Perry, who serves as the Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, held a press conference last fall urging Congress to re-authorize the federal fund.
“Sportsmen and women have been working tirelessly for the past three years to get the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanently reauthorized. And we finally succeeded,” Perry said. “This wonderful program has protected valuable fish and wildlife habitat all across the country and has provided recreational opportunities for millions of Pennsylvanians.
“Every county in Pennsylvania has received LWCF money for playgrounds, ball fields, swimming pools, county parks, expansion of State Game Lands and access to streams and lakes for boaters and anglers. It is truly the best conservation program the public has never heard of.”
According to the Outdoor Alliance, the package will have immediate benefits for the outdoor recreation community, who sent more than 30,000 messages to legislators in recent weeks in support of the package. “The passage of the public lands package is a demonstration of the deep affection with which Americans regard their public lands,” said Adam Cramer, Executive Director of Outdoor Alliance. “Across the country, protecting treasured places is an idea with incredibly deep bipartisan support, and thanks to outreach of and advocacy from people across the country, lawmakers are starting to get that message. We’re fired up to see the package through the House and hopeful for more good things to come.”
