Environmentalists and politicians are working together to keep funding in place to protect important land from development, as shifting priorities in Washington put that money at risk.
The advocates met on Tuesday in Cold Spring. They said the future of parks, wildlife and drinking water depends on the fight. They are coming off a victory and preparing for another battle.
Amy Lindholm, a supporter of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, said the victory is that they successfully lobbied to keep the U.S. Department of the Interior from repurposing nearly a third of the LWCF's annual budget of $900 million. The money, which comes mainly from payments by energy companies, is used to buy up and protect land for recreation, wildlife preservation and natural filtration of drinking water.
"I've been down in Washington, DC, running around Capitol Hill," Lindholm said Tuesday during a hike with U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler through Hudson Highlands State Park, "trying to make sure that the bipartisan support for something like the Land and Water Conservation Fund is demonstrated where we need it to be in DC."
Lawler has played a leading role in the fight in Washington to keep the full $900 million in the LWCF.
He joined the advocates at the park's lodge to announce President Donald Trump shot down the Department of Interior's repurposing plan in his latest budget, "which made no changes to LWCF's eligible uses or operations and kept full funding in place."
The next battle is to try to shake loose grants that are meant partly to preserve certain forests in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which naturally filter water that ends up in municipal water supplies.
The money is authorized by law, but has not been fully allocated.
"It's very important to keep demonstrating that the majority of Americans care very much about public land," Lindholm said, "and we're going to keep fighting to protect it."
Data from the National Parks Conservation Association show about 75% of Americans support the preservation of key spaces using federal funds.
