Boone and Crockett Club: Push to Permanently Fully Fund LWCF a Landmark Move for Conservation

According to the Boone and Crockett Club, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) should be fully and permanently funded as intended when this law passed in 1964. Two Montana Senators with a track record of supporting active and healthy forest and rangeland management, public lands and public access, and the state’s traditions of hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation, Jon Tester (D) and Steve Daines (R), have recently joined other lawmakers in a bipartisan effort to make this a reality.

“Conservation is not republican or democrat, blue or red, it’s just the right thing to do for the greater good,” said Timothy C. Brady, president of the Boone and Crockett Club. “We applaud representatives from both parties for standing together to get this done.”

The LWCF was enacted by Congress in 1964 so that America’s conservation and recreational priorities would be funded through revenues generated from the landscape—oil and gas leases—not taxpayer funds. Since then, the U.S. Treasury has collected $40.9 billion, but appropriations have totaled only $18.9 billion. The LWCF is supposed to receive $900 million annually. The problem is this amount is not automatic or guaranteed. This bill makes this amount mandatory.

“What’s in play here is conservation funds matching the promise,” Brady explained. “This means a significant annual investment we can count on to protect and conserve our national parks, public lands, and our nation’s $887 billion outdoor recreation economy. Clean air, clean water, healthy ecosystems and the opportunity to enjoy them are a generational obligation everyone should take seriously, and we have the ability to do just that.”

About the Boone and Crockett Club

Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest conservation organization in North America, which helped to establish the principles of wildlife and habitat conservation, hunter ethics, as well as many of the institutions, expert agencies, science, and funding mechanisms for conservation. Its contributions include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone, and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the framework for modern game laws. The Club continues to be the leader in the hunter-conservationist community through its work in conservation policy, research and education programs at major universities, hunter ethics, and collaboration with similarly focused organizations. The Club is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org.