Senator Susan Collins today announced that she has joined with Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) in sending a bipartisan letter to Chairman Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Ranking Member Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), the of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee requesting the committee restore funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s (LWCF) stateside grants program.
The letter comes in response to the President’s Fiscal Year 2008 budget in which all funding for the stateside LWCF program was removed. At present, a bipartisan group of 42 senators have signed-on to the letter.
The LWCF program was created in 1964 to provide money to federal, state, and local governments for the purchase of land, water, and wetlands for the benefit of all Americans. Since the LWCF program began, its funding has assisted in the creation and development of over 40,000 state and local park and recreation projects in every corner of the United States. Additionally, the demand for this funding remains strong, with over 40 states reporting unmet funding needs exceeding 80%.
“The President’s decision to remove funding for the LWCF program is unfortunate,” noted Senator Collins. “Our environment is a treasure, and the LWCF program has continuously provided the funding needed to protect it.”
Senator Collins recently joined with Senator Salazar in sending a letter to President Bush requesting that he restore the funding to the LWCF program.
A copy of the letter follows:
April 5, 2007
Dear Chairman Feinstein and Ranking Member Craig:
We are writing to urge the Committee to restore funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) stateside grants program for FY 2008 to $125 million.
Between 2002 and 2005, the President requested, and Congress appropriated between $89 million and $140 million per year for the LWCF stateside grants program. Few federal investments positively touch more American lives than projects funded through stateside LWCF. We find, therefore, the elimination of all funding for this program, as called for in the President’s 2008 Budget, unacceptable.
Since its creation by Congress in 1964, the LWCF stateside grants program has helped states and local communities build parks and playing fields, carve out trails, and preserve open spaces in all 50 states. It is significant that a considerable amount of the income going to the Fund has come about through the leasing of offshore oil rights. While one resource is being used another is being protected. Through FY 2006, the LWCF stateside grants program has supported over 40,000 projects to acquire open space for parklands or develop outdoor recreation facilities. The Land and Water Conservation Fund works in partnership with states and communities to deliver and protect opportunities for outdoor recreation. In October 2006, four-fifths of the states reported that 80% of their funding needs for recreation facility development and parkland acquisition were unmet. Given this assessment of the importance of investing in local parks and recreation projects, we believe funding for Stateside LWCF should be increased, not eliminated.
Congress created the stateside LWCF program “to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States.” The program succeeds in doing so by providing seniors safe places to stroll, by providing workers opportunities to reduce stress and stay sharp, and by providing kids playgrounds and playing fields to stay healthy. In fact, a growing body of evidence is showing LWCF projects to be critical infrastructure in the battle to reduce obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that 65% of American adults and 16% of children are overweight or obese, even small improvements in the lifestyles of Americans would yield marked health improvements. If 10% of adults began a walking program, for example, costs for heart disease would decrease by $5.6 billion. Each dollar invested in building a convenient trail or park is returned several times over in reduced health care costs and improved quality of life.
Because the LWCF program has been so effective over its 42-year history in creating new opportunities for parks and recreation, and continues to be essential to improving the health of the American people, we are strongly urging you to restore $125 million to the LWCF stateside grants program
We look forward to working with you to support this important program and we thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our request.
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