Why I let the Land and Water Conservation Fund expire And how to fix it. By ROB BISHOP

Why I let the Land and Water Conservation Fund expire And how to fix it. By ROB BISHOP The Land and Water Conservation Fund is broken. Created more than 50 years ago to “ensure access to outdoor recreation” and paid for by revenues from American offshore oil and natural gas development, the fund was supposed to help Americans. Unfortunately, the law has been hijacked by special interests too close to the government and must be reformed. Since I chose to let the fund expire — due to fundamental flaws — on Sept. 30, a few have hurled criticisms and impugned the motives of members of Congress for wanting to reform the LWCF. Special interests have fought tooth and nail to protect the status quo, denigrating efforts to reprioritize funding for state and local recreation needs as a means to “pervert,” “eviscerate,” “torpedo” and even “destroy” the 1965 statute. But on the contrary, efforts to blindly reauthorize the LWCF are denying the fact that the law’s original intent to develop recreational opportunities close to home for more Americans was perverted long ago. The LWCF currently authorizes money for purposes including federal land acquisition and something called the Stateside Assistance Grant Program. The Stateside program provides matching grants to states to help them expand public recreational access. Because states know best the needs of the people in their communities, the original 1965 law required that states receive the lion’s share of funding from the LWCF. Unfortunately, the Stateside Program has been gradually crowded out over the years by the federal government’s powerful drive to acquire more and more land. Originally, 60 percent of the fund went to the states; in 2015, a mere 16 percent went to the Stateside Program, about one-quarter of what was originally envisioned when Congress created the fund in a bipartisan effort. Even more troubling is how the feds prioritize and spend the money they’re given, acquiring millions of acres of land with little transparency, scant oversight and minimal local input. Federal agencies can’t even identify how much land has been acquired with LWCF funds. Earlier this year, I wrote a letter to the Department of the Interior, requesting information about the total amount of federal land acquisitions over the life of the program and the goals accomplished through those acquisitions. The department has been utterly incapable of answering this request. As more land is acquired, federal land management agencies are racking up as much as $19 billion in federal maintenance backlogs on existing lands. This is unacceptable. Continued federal land acquisition is especially disturbing for the West, where so much of the land is already owned by the federal government. More federal land means lost economic opportunity and lost tax revenue that should be available for schools and infrastructure. Furthermore, even state and local recreation projects — the main purpose of the law — are stymied since states simply don’t have the revenues to pay for them. According to the National Parks Service, states today struggle with more than $18.5 billion in unmet recreational needs. The means by which land is acquired using LWCF funding must be addressed as well. Recently, The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 19 states have been using LWCF funds for controversial eminent domain projects. Private property is the cornerstone of our land policy and has made our nation free and prosperous, but that right is compromised when the government uses a fund that was intended to create greater public access to lands as a way to take away people’s property. So, how should we reboot the LWCF? I recently unveiled legislation that eliminates the corrosion of the law and restores the honorable intent of public recreation and access. The Protecting America’s Recreation and Conservation Act strengthens the original intent of LWCF — a robust, successful program chiefly aimed at helping states — while eliminating eminent domain and significantly curtailing the ballooning federal land acquisition. The PARC Act leaves no room for funding abuses and ensures the federal government’s priorities properly focus on strictly identified inholdings that actually expand public access or improve maintenance of the hundreds of millions of acres that it already owns. Since the LWCF’s inception, the needs and geographical distribution of our population have changed. Communities across the country – particularly in urban areas – lack opportunities to enjoy America’s land. The Community Improvement Through Innovation, Engagement and Support Program in the PARC Act will encourage people, particularly children in urban areas, to get the kind of recreational access they need to lead healthy, flourishing lives. Governors, state park advocates and recreation groups are calling to restore the LWCF to its original purpose. Congress has an obligation to evaluate the laws that have been on the books for decades, and when found failing, improve them. The LWCF is one of those laws. By acknowledging the successes and failures of the LWCF, we can end its longstanding abuses and restore its benefit to more and more Americans. The PARC Act is a renewed and transparent framework that achieves these ends. Those who favor more of the same for the sake of political convenience will have to answer to the American people. Rep. Rob Bishop, a Republican, represents Utah’s 1st Congressional District. Julia (Bell) Slingsby Press Secretary Committee on Natural Resources 1328 Longworth House Office Building 202.226.9019 (office) 202.253.6667 (cell)