Federal bill could impact recreation, conservation in Idaho
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“Nobody who launches their boat on the South Fork of the Snake … regrets that someone has acted in years past to conserve those great places in Idaho.”
— Will Whelan, Nature Conservancy of Idaho
IDAHO FALLS — Garett Reppenhagen always had a love for the American wilderness.
But after serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom and having what he calls “some pretty severe experiences,” spending time in the great outdoors has taken on on special meaning for Reppenhagen. It was there among pine-filled forests that he was able to reflect on his experiences and cultivate a sense of healing.
Today, Reppenhagen is the Rocky Mountain director of the Vet Voice Foundation, where he advocates for conservation issues. As a conservation activist, Reppenhagen says his healing wouldn’t have been possible without a little-known piece of legislation called the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). And if you live in Idaho, chances are you’ve benefited from it too.
Established by an act of Congress in 1965, the LWCF supports recreation and conservation projects throughout the country. Its four main programs — the Stateside Assistance Program, Federal Land Protection Program, Forest Legacy Program and the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund — are funded by fees from the oil and gas industry and don’t use taxpayer dollars.
If you’ve ever taken your kids to a city park in Idaho Falls or rafted on the South Fork of the Snake River, you’ve probably enjoyed land preserved by LWCF. From 1966 to 2011 the fund supplied more than $1.7 million to Bonneville County alone, many of those funds going toward the development of parks and recreational facilities.
Since 1991, the fund helped protect 9,500 acres along the South Fork of the Snake River. LWCF has also contributed to conservation efforts in Salmon-Challis and Sawtooth national forests and Grand Teton National Park.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund is broken. … The law has been hijacked by special interests too close to the government and must be reformed.”
But under a new proposal put forward by Congressman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, acquiring new public land may become more difficult.
Bishop, who is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, blocked the passage of LWCF when the fund was up for routine renewal last September. A month later, he proposed his own bill called Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation Act, or PARC Act. This bill would restructure the way money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund is allocated and would put strict limits on the amount of land the federal government could acquire.
According to the House Committee on Natural Resources, this move “flips the script on the special interest slush fund,” or LWCF.
Bishop wants to limit federal land acquisitions and put more power in states’ hands by allowing them to have greater say over how money from the fund is spent.
In a recent op-ed in Politico, Bishop said that “the Stateside Program has been gradually crowded out over the years by the federal government’s powerful drive to acquire more and more land” and that “more federal land means lost economic opportunity and lost tax revenue.” He aims to beef up the stateside program by allocating 45 percent of LWCF to states each year.
In addition, a discussion draft of the bill reveals that 20 percent of the LWCF would go toward promoting offshore oil exploration. By contrast, very little money would be available for conservation. According to analysis performed by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition, Bishop’s restructuring would mean an 80 percent reduction in funding for the Forest Legacy Program and a 61 percent reduction for the Endangered Species Fund.
The PARC Act would also reduce funding for acquiring federal lands — to 3.5 percent of LWCF — and maintaining existing lands — also at 3.5 percent.
How LWCF affects you
Click here to see LWCF-funded parks and recreational facilities in your city and here to see LWCF-impacted wilderness areas.
Will Whelan, director of government relations for the Nature Conservancy of Idaho, said stateside funds have historically gone toward more recreational projects near cities, while fewer of these funds have gone toward wilderness conservation. Instead, Whelan would like to see a more balanced bill – one that provides equitable funding between stateside recreational projects and federal conservation efforts.
The PARC Act has some competition on Capitol Hill. Several bills have been introduced that would permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund. One of these bills is sponsored by Congressman Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.
It’s no secret Idahoans love their camping, rafting and fishing. And considering that more than 60 percent of Idaho is federal land, there’s something at stake in all of this for Idaho residents.
“The places that the Land and Water Conservation Fund has conserved are places that Idahoans use every day, every week,” Whelan said. “Nobody who launches their boat on the South Fork of the Snake or who enjoys the scenic vista around Henry’s Lake regrets that someone has acted in years past to conserve those great places in Idaho.”