Government land grants

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State Assistance Program may be heading into a "perfect storm"--a triple-whammy of circumstances that could result in substantial reductions to the matching grants available to state and local governments for acquisition of open space and development of parks and recreational facilities.

The first threat: The president has requested one-third less for the LWCF state share grant program in his FY 2005 budget request than he did last year. Although the FY 2005 federal budget request for the Department of the Interior proclaims that the administration is "fully funding" the Land and Water Conservation Fund, in actuality the request for LWCF state share grants is inexplicably $66 million less than it was last year--$94 million for FY 2005, down from a request of $160 million for FY 2004.

The second threat: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently completed a comprehensive and systematic assessment of the LWCF state assistance program using the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) in which the program received an abysmal score and the lowest possible rating of "Results not Demonstrated." The PART analysis has significant implications for future funding, and if the very negative evaluation given by OMB did not affect the FY '05 budget request, it will in FY '06 unless performance outcomes are more clearly demonstrated to the Administration and to Congress.

The third threat: Federal discretionary spending is beginning to contract so fast that grant funded programs, even those with a dedicated revenue source such as LWCF, may be in a heap of trouble. The burgeoning federal debt combined with the high costs for war spending, homeland security and other critical national priorities may have a profound affect on those programs that are not guaranteed specific appropriations.

Park and recreation departments nationwide need to be aware of the critical nature of the present circumstances, and must rejuvenate advocacy efforts on behalf of LWCF if they hope to continue receiving this vital conservation and recreation funding. To assume that the LWCF state assistance grants will remain as part of the fiscal budget next year could produce the most undesirable of outcomes.

Local and state governments have come to count on LWCF as a reliable source of matching federal funding to accomplish what the Act set out to do in 1965, "... to assist in preserving, developing and assuring accessibility ... of outdoor recreation resources ... for individual active participation in such recreation and to strengthen the health and vitality of citizens."

The fund source for both the federal LWCF program and the state assistance program is approximately $900 million in annual royalty payments and lease revenues from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas drilling. The original intention of the Land and Water Conservation Fund was to dedicate a small portion of the proceeds from the extraction of non-renewable energy sources to permanent conservation and public recreation. It has succeeded admirably in that regard, and in nearly four decades, the LWCF state assistance program has funded an astonishing 39,000 state and local park, recreation and conservation projects in virtually every county in America.

Congress has never appropriated the full amount of the revenues derived from OCS receipts for conservation and recreation, but even so, more than $3.5 billion has been apportioned to the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territorial islands of the United States in the 40-year history of the program. Noteworthy is that more than 62 percent of the $3.5 billion in LWCF state assistance grants has gone to fund local and county projects, and more than 31,000 of the total of 39,000 projects or 79 percent have been local or county-based. No other program in the history of our nation has done more to develop outdoor recreation resources for public enjoyment and conservation value.

Alarmingly, Congress rarely sees the far-reaching benefits of the LWCF state assistance program that are delivered at the local community and stream valley level. Further, there is a strong perception that the state assistance program is identical to the federal LWCF program, that is, primarily a land acquisition program.

A senior staffer of the Senate Interior Appropriations Committee recently told NRPA representatives that, "You know, the members up here on the Hill rarely hear about the local benefits of LWCF."

If there was ever a time for focused advocacy for one of our nation's most important conservation and recreation programs, now is that time. Local park and recreation agencies and the citizens of local communities need to tell Congress just how important the Land and Water Conservation Fund state assistance program has been to their communities. LWCF continues to serve the American people by providing safe, healthful, recreation opportunities for people of all ages and abilities on public lands that were purchased and developed with matching federal funds, but which are maintained and managed in perpetuity with local resources and local funds.

Only the beneficiaries of this vital program can truly tell how valuable it has been to their communities, and each and every citizen needs to educate their U.S. Representatives and Senators to the extent of these benefits. As the PART analysis is intended to demonstrate, the public and elected representatives want to know where their taxpayer money is going, and what benefit it is providing.

To specifically address the PART analysis findings, the National Park Service (NPS) has convened a LWCF PART Report Implementation Team, which includes NPS staff as well as a representative from National Recreation and Park Association and Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation (AHR) to identify performance measures, establish baselines and set targets, recommend procedures for measuring efficiencies, and to establish a reporting process to show results. This Implementation Team has already begun work and will report progress periodically, which will be relayed to readers of Parks & Recreation and the NRPA Web site.

To learn more about what your community and your agency can do to demonstrate the true benefits of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, contact the Public Policy Office of NRPA at public_ policy@nrpa.org or (202) 887-0290. Also, check the NRPA Web page at www. nrpa.org periodically for updates on advocacy efforts and LWCF reports.

Join the RecreAction Network by emailing public_policy@nrpa.org to receive Action Alerts and information on the LWCF advocacy campaigns. Above all, contact your representative and senator now as FY 2005 budget deliberations take place and tell them about the benefits of LWCF in your community.

Richard J. Dolesh is senior policy associate for NRPA's Public Policy Office in Washington, D.C. He can be, reached at rdolesh @nrpa.org.