OPINION other leases. Less than half of the money accrued through the history of off-shore royalties has been appropriated to the conservation fund. Legislation in various forms to address the LWCF diversions has languished in Congress for decades despite enormous efforts by many national conservation organizations, including National Wildlife Federation and Nature Conservancy, as well as local land trusts and conservancies like the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. The bill restores the $900 million annual allocations to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. It also authorizes up to $9.5 billion over five years to address the maintenance backlogs at national parks creating many jobs while restoring deteriorating park infrastructure. Sustained investment in the LWCF stimulates the economy, creates jobs, and protects and restores infrastructure. Now in a critical election year, the bill was quickly approved with bipartisan votes in both chambers. Motivated not by the many pressing conservation needs but by Senate election-year politics in Colorado and Montana, it passed the Senate on a 73-to-25 vote in June. In the House, it passed by a bipartisan 310-to-107 vote. Republican Senators in Colorado and Montana, two important public lands states, are in trouble for their many failures to stand up to Trump and his anti-environmental agenda. Regardless of the political motivations for moving the bill, the LWCF will make substantial contributions by strategically securing the economic assets that federal, state, and local
public lands represent. Public lands and waters drive the outdoor recreation economy across America, especially during the pandemic as more Americans are spending time in the outdoors. According to the Department of Interior’s Federal Interagency Council on Recreation, “recreation activities in national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, marine sanctuaries and other federal managed lands and waters contributed approximately $51 billion and supported 880,000 jobs in the United States economy in 2012.” The Outdoor Industry Association produced an assessment entitled: “The Outdoor Recreation Economy, 2012 that concluded: “Nationally, outdoor recreation activities contribute $646 billion to the economy annually and supports outdoor recreation driving $887 billion in consumer spending, while supporting 7.6 million U.S. jobs annually, and generates $125 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenue. Visitor-driven business stimulates local communities surrounding national parks and other public lands. There are more than 5,000 outfitters and guiding companies that operated in proximity to national forests. The Trust for Public Land produced an assessment entitled: “The Return on Investment from the Land & Water Conservation Fund in 2010” reported “the Land and Water Conservation Fund is a sound investment: for every $1 invested in federal land acquisition through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, there is a return of $4 in economic value.” Pennsylvania Connection
A prominent Pennsylvanian, Maurice K. Goddard was instrumental in creating the original LWCF. There is not a single Pennsylvanian who does not enjoy the benefits of his life’s work. Yet, few recognize the name apart from perhaps Goddard State Park. I was privileged to be a good friend and mentored by Goddard, who headed the Department of Forests and Waters and later the Department of Environmental Resources for more than two decades. He understood that the Commonwealth was the trustee of public resources for an intergenerational public benefit. Early in his tenure as Secretary of Forests and Waters, Goddard learned that California used revenue from off-shore oil production to rebuild its State Parks. To make sure royalities derived from public lands got reinvested in public resources, Goddard crafted a bill to move revenues generated from wells under state public lands into a special fund known as the Oil and Gas Fund to be used "for conservation, recreation, dams, or flood control.” The late Governor George Leader told me that Goddard, new on the job, had cooked up this plan with Representative George B. Stevenson, a Republican before he cleared it with the Governor. To his credit, Governor Leader signed a bipartisan bill that became the Oil and Gas Lease Fund Act law as Act 256 on December 15, 1955. (With increased revenues from fracking on state lands in recent years this revenue has been illegally diverted at the state level.) In 1958, Goddard was appointed as an alternate delegate
to the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) to consider America’s outdoor recreation future needs. During one of the ORRC meetings, Goddard shared his experience with the Oil and Gas Lease Fund Act and proposed that royalties from off-shore oil and gas be dedicated to fund a land and water conservation program. The findings released in 1961 by the commission included the Goddard recommendation that royalties should be used to preserve and develop outdoor recreation resources for all people. After the report was published with President Kennedy’s support, legislation was introduced with bipartisan sponsorship to launch such a program. On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson, signed Goddard’s vision for the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. For fifty-three years, the fund provided billions for conservation projects with the monies split between the Federal agencies and the states. It has been America's most important tool for meeting conservation and recreation needs, from iconic national parks and wildlife refuges to sacred battlefields and historic sites, working forests, critically endangered species habitats, and neighborhood playgrounds and recreation facilities. Goddard was rightfully proud of his role in this substantial law, yet few people know his name. Goddard would be pleased with the vote to guarantee funding for LWCF for the next generation of Americans.
PITTSBURGH CURRENT | JULY 28, 2020 | 15