TODAY: Udall & Local Conservation Leaders to Hold Press Conference Call to Urge Congress to Reauthorize Land and Water Conservation Fund

TODAY: Udall & Local Conservation Leaders to Hold Press Conference Call to Urge Congress to Reauthorize Land and Water Conservation Fund

WASHINGTON – Today, Tuesday, October 2 at 2:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. MT, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and the Wilderness Society will hold a press conference call to urge Congress to act immediately to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which expired on Sunday, September 30, injecting uncertainty into one of our nation’s most effective conservation programs. Udall will be joined by a group of local conservation leaders who will discuss the LWCF’s critical role in safeguarding our most valuable public lands and bolstering regional outdoor recreation economies.

Since its establishment in 1965, the LWCF has been one of America’s most successful conservation programs, helping to protect public lands, national parks, wildlife refuges, trails, ball fields and popular recreational sites in all 50 states. In New Mexico, the LWCF has funded over 1,200 projects and helped to increase recreational opportunities and preserve thousands of acres of precious public lands, from Rio Grande del Norte National Monument to Gila National Forest.

Udall, who serves as the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, has long championed efforts to permanently authorize and fully fund the LWCF, including successfully securing $425 million in funding for the program in this year’s Senate Interior and Environment appropriations bill.

TODAY, Tuesday, October 2

WHAT: Udall, Wilderness Society, local conservation leaders to urge Congress to act immediately to reauthorize and fully fund the LWCF

WHEN: 2:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. MT

WHERE: (800) 311-9409 — Passcode: LWCF

WHO:

• U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies
• Tom Tidwell, Retired Chief, U.S. Forest Service, Idaho, who will review the impact of LWCF support on adjoining public lands, such as national forests
• Renee Villarreal, Santa Fe City Councilor, N.M., who will address the importance of Fund-supported lands in northern New Mexico
• Scot Faulkner, Friends of Harpers Ferry, W. Va., who will discuss how program funding helps preserve historic sites
• Merrill Beyeler, Rancher/Chair, Lemhi Regional Land Trust, Idaho, who will speak about the public/private and agricultural benefits of the LWCF
• Susan Lagerman, Board Member, Arizona Trail Association, Ariz., who will discuss how the program is needed to complete off-road sections of the trail for the benefit and safety of diverse groups of hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians

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