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Congress must act now before land fund ends

If you enjoy outdoor recreation, whether that means camping in a wilderness area or just taking the kids to the playground at a city park, there is an excellent chance you owe a debt of gratitude to a federal program of which you may never have heard.

It is the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Unless Congress acts soon, the LWCF may cease to function.

Like many government services, the fund must be reauthorized periodically. Funds must be appropriated for it. Yet with the current authorization set to expire Sunday, lawmakers have not done what is needed to keep the LWCF in operation.

Most people have never heard of the fund. Local recreation officials, national park managers and conservationists throughout the nation certainly have, however.

Established in 1965, the LWCF uses some of the revenue that flows to the government from offshore oil and gas drilling. It receives not a dime from taxpayers in general.

How important is the program? During about 40 years, it provided funding to 40,400 local and state recreation and conservation initiatives. No, that is not a typographical error.

LWCF money goes to preserve significant natural areas within states, to improve municipal and county parks — even to help establish playgrounds and local swimming pools.

Through the years Trumbull County facilities have benefited greatly from this fund. In fact, here is a partial synopsis of some of the local beneficiaries of the LWCF between 1965 and 2011:

Mosquito Creek Campgrounds received $21,652 in 1973; then the Mosquito Creek Marina was awarded another $547,024 in 1984. Trumbull County’s Canoe Trail Park received about $16,500 in 1986.

Niles was provided $253,004 for use on the Waddell Park Pool in 1989.

Liberty Township parks received $2,067 in 1976 and then another $78,783 in 1984.

Brookfield Township Park received $24,595 in 1977; Harding Park in Hubbard Township was awarded $5,887 in 1978. Orangeville Community Park received a $3,351 award in 1979; Bazetta Township park received $35,250 in 1979.

A 1984 expansion at Warren’s Packard Park received $53,550; Newton Falls received $30,595 for Falls Park in the early 1980s; and Girard received just shy of $50,000 for Tod Park in 1985.

Howland received $175,000 in the early 1980s for Howland Township Park work and then another $15,150 in 1988 for work in Bolindale Park; and Lordstown’s 1984 acquistion of Central Park was funded, in part, with $46,385 from the fund.

All told, these projects amount to $1.6 million.

All that — and much more in every state of the union — has been accomplished by a government initiative that almost never receives as much money as authorized under the law. The LWCF, eligible for $900 million per year, has been given that much only once in its history.

With partisan politics more bitter and prevalent than most Americans can recall, members of Congress ought to be delighted at the opportunity to reauthorize the LWCF. It is a program that directly or indirectly benefits every American. It is one upon which Democrats and Republicans can agree.

It is something the government does right. Members of Congress should ensure the LWCF is reauthorized — with an appropriation adequate to continue its important work.

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