The funding allotment for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) included in the Omnibus spending bill marked a substantial increase over previous years.
Kirsten Holland picks up on an underreported factoid from the recent Congressional approval of the Omnibus spending bill: "lawmakers allocated a total of $450 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a 47 percent increase over the FY15 level, and reauthorized the program for three years."
The state assistance component of the LWCF, which provides funding assistance to states for "local and regional conservation and recreational development projects," also increased to 24 percent of the total allotment. " Over the last decade, average state assistance funding has been around only 12.5 percent of total annual LWCF allocations, so this represents a significant increase in funding available for state and local planners working on recreation and conservation projects," writes Holland.
The article concludes with a call to action on reforms for the LWCF, including additional funding.
Read the full story: Congress Increases Parks Funding, Reauthorizes LWCF for 3 Years
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