The administration this week tweeted his support for a bill to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and provide funding to address deferred maintenance needs in national parks. The Land and Water Conservation Fund uses revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling, not taxpayer funds, to invest in national parks, public lands, and local community parks. The program was permanently authorized in March of 2019 in a broadly supported public lands package that passed the Senate by a 92-8 vote. The Fund is authorized at $900 million annually, but appropriations have consistently fallen short, providing full annual funding only twice in the program’s 55-year history. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt testified in front of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee that the administration will support legislative efforts to fully fund the LWCF. America’s national parks, which face a backlog of maintenance and infrastructure projects amid record visitation, rely on LWCF to increase access. Yellowstone alone has $563½-million in deferred maintenance while Grand Teton has $181-million in backlogged projects.
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