Press Releases
Pingree Applauds Interior Department’s Reversal of Trump Era Policy Undermining the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Washington,
February 11, 2021
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Chair of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, today released the following statement regarding the Department of the Interior’s revocation of an 11th hour order by the Trump administration that undermined the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): “The Great American Outdoors Act passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, affirming once again that there’s broad public support for the preservation of our public lands. Interior’s actions today will bring LWCF programming back in line with the intent of Congress to protect our land and water and provide recreational access to all. “As Chair of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and a long-time advocate for permanent funding for the LWCF, I applaud the Biden administration for putting us back on course to preserve our parks, trails, and wildlife refuges so every American can enjoy them. The LWCF is an essential program to ensure that our country’s irreplaceable natural wonders are accessible, equitable, and protected for generations to come.” Today’s Secretarial Order rescinds an order signed on November 9, 2020 that imposed new restrictions to inhibit the availability of LWCF funding for federal land and water acquisitions. It also instructs the National Park Service to revise the Land and Water Conservation Fund Assistance Manual to remove the restrictive policies implemented in the previous order, and to reinstate pre-existing implementation of the LWCF state assistance program and Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program. The ORLP program is the only LWCF competitive grant program dedicated to providing crucial funding to urban areas that lack access to parks. Pingree was a cosponsor of legislation to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund in the 116th Congress. In July 2019, Pingree penned a letter to the editor calling for permanent LWCF funding to protect Maine’s public lands. She joined her colleagues in passing the Great American Outdoors Act in July 2020. ### |
