UNITED STATES SENATE

For Immediate Release	Contact: Alissa Southworth (Collins) 202-224-2523
April 12, 2006	Andrew Nannis (Salazar) 202-224-5852

SENATORS COLLINS, SALAZAR SEEK ADDITIONAL LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUNDS

REQUEST INCREASED RESOURCES FOR LWCF GRANTS PROGRAM

Washington, DC - Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Ken Salazar (D- CO) lead 48 of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman and Ranking Member, urging a full restoration to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) stateside grants program. The primary authors of the letter are consistent proponents of ensuring an adequate funding stream for this vital conservation effort. Senators Collins and Salazar specifically requested that Congress appropriate $100 million for LWCF in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget.

The text of the letter is provided below:

April 7, 2006

The Honorable Conrad Burns

Chairman

Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Byron Dorgan

Ranking Member

Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Chairman Burns and Ranking Member Dorgan:

We are writing to urge the Committee to restore funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) stateside grants program for FY 2007 to historic levels - $100 million.

Between 2000 and 2004, the President requested, and Congress appropriated, an average of over $100 million per year for the LWCF stateside grants program. Few federal investments positively touch more American lives than projects funded through stateside LWCF. We find, therefore, the elimination of all funding for this program, as called for in the President’s 2007 Budget, unacceptable.

Since its creation by Congress in 1964, the LWCF stateside grants program has helped states and local communities build parks and playing fields, carve out trails, and preserve open spaces in over 94% of America’s counties. According to the National Park Service’s 2005 State Land and Water Conservation Fund Annual Report “nearly 55 million visits at 44 state parks represents only a small sampling of visitor use at the estimated 40,000 state and local park sites assisted by the program. Year in and year out, the Land and Water Conservation Fund works in partnership with states and communities to deliver and protect opportunities for outdoor recreation.” This Report from the National Park Service, issued in February of 2006, is attached for your review. Given this assessment of the importance of investing in local parks and recreation projects, we believe that funding for Stateside LWCF should be restored to its historic levels, not eliminated.

Congress created the stateside LWCF program “to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States.” The program succeeds in doing so by providing seniors safe places to stroll, by providing workers opportunities to reduce stress and stay sharp, and by providing kids playgrounds and playing fields to stay healthy. In fact, a growing body of evidence is showing LWCF projects to be critical infrastructure in the battle to reduce obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which estimates that 64% of American adults and 15% of children are overweight or obese, even small improvements in the lifestyles of Americans would yield marked health improvements. If 10% of adults began a walking program, for example, costs for heart disease would decrease by $5.6 billion. Each dollar invested in building a convenient trail or park is returned several times over in reduced health care costs and improved quality of life.

Because the LWCF program has been so effective over its 40 year history in creating new opportunities for parks and recreation, and continues to be essential to improving the health of the American people, we strongly urge you to restore $100 million – the historic funding level – to the LWCF stateside grants program

We look forward to working with you to support this important program and we thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our request.

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