Whitefish officials join call for conservation fund
Whitefish’s City Council members and Mayor are among 150 elected officials from 11 states who have signed onto a letter urging their congressional delegations to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The letter was signed by representatives from 45 towns, cities, and counties. 19 full county commissions and/or city councils also signed onto the letter. According to the letter, the elected officials represent over 1.25 million year-round residents and over 56 Million annual visitors.
A major public lands bill was signed into law in March by President Trump including the permanent reauthorization of LWCF. However, that package did not fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate to fully fund the LWCF, and the same bill is expected to be introduced in the U.S. House.
The LWCF expired last year after Congress failed to reauthorize the program that directs a portion of federal revenues from offshore oil and gas leasing to fund grants that went to local, state and federal projects that benefit conservation and outdoor recreation.
The conservation fund has invested more than $540 million to support Montana’s $7.1 billion outdoor recreation economy.
The Mountain Pact organized the letter signed by elected officials from across the U.S.
“The Land and Water Conservation Fund has been indispensable in public lands conservation in the United States since its passage in 1964,” said Anna Peterson, Executive Director with The Mountain Pact. “The LWCF has funded projects in every county in the United States, helping to support the $887 billion outdoor recreation industry, and the economies of our Western mountain communities.”
The Mountain Pact is an organization works with 50 mountain communities in 11 states across the American West it says to empower them to build resilience in the face of economic and environmental stresses through a shared voice on federal policy related to climate, public lands and outdoor recreation.
The LWCF played a key role in securing funding for the Whitefish Lake Watershed Project, a 13,400-acre conservation easement northwest of Whitefish Lake. The Haskill Basin conservation easement finalized in 2016 also relied on LWCF funding to ultimately preserve about 3,000 acres of forestland north of town including providing protection for the city of Whitefish’s source for drinking water. The fund also provided funding for the Trumbull Creek conservation easement for about 7,000 acres north of Columbia Falls.