Sen. Cory Gardner has been very supportive of reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the 50-year old program that provides everything from local baseball fields to communities, to access for hunting and fishing on public lands. One local example is the Animas River Trail through Durango, which was built with LWCF funds.
The LWCF is funded by offshore oil drilling royalties, not taxpayers, and is the country’s best tool for increasing recreational opportunities for communities. Despite overwhelming bipartisan support for continuing the program, a few people in Congress are saying that it needs to be re-configured. However, its popularity and the fact that almost every single county in the country has benefited from the program demonstrates that it’s working well.
As a hunter and fisherman, I reap the benefits of these projects – it’s not widely known, for example, that LWCF funds helped preserve access to a very local hunting area, the Bodo State Wildlife Area, on the backside of Smelter Mountain.
That’s why I’m concerned when Sen. Gardner said recently that he “will continue to work toward a solution that paves the way for the common sense, permanent reauthorization of a program.” The solution already exists, and is working great – what we need to do is simply reauthorize a program that is universally successful.
This is a perfect example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and I hope Sen. Gardner will work hard to see the LWCF reauthorized as is with no changes.
Rob Schmidt
Durango
