Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today introduced legislation to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – a law that provides funding to protect sensitive landscapes and grants to states to develop recreation areas and facilities.

Right now, the Land and Water Conservation Fund is subject to the annual appropriations process.  And Congress has rarely appropriated the $900 million that is authorized annually.  As a result, the levels of funding for both federal and state agencies have fluctuated wildly.

Over the years, the program has protected more than 5 million acres of land and water across the country, including portions of Chaco Canyon, Gila National Forest, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, and Petroglyphs National Monument, among many others, in New Mexico.

Bingaman believes the LWCF needs consistent and predictable funding to allow the program to continue to be effective.  The Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act of 2009, which was introduced today, seeks to do just that.

"Protecting special places and landscapes for the common good has always been a great American idea that we have exported to the rest of the world.  By protecting natural systems, we're protecting human health as well as the economy by providing clean water, clean air, livable coastal areas and the quality of life that is so important to all Americans," Bingaman said.