LWCF - A deal is a deal!

Big Fin

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A deal is a deal, right? In 1965, Congress struck a deal where a royalty would be paid on offshore oil to mitigate the impacts offshore drilling could have. A good deal representing compromise by many.

The royalty proceeds are to be placed in an account called the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The LWCF has since been used for every sort of public access project you can imagine. This has been the most effective access program I know of for hunters. Any who hunt public lands you should know about this program and why it is so important to you.

Odds are, if you hunt, fish, hike, or enjoy public lands, you have benefited from the LWCF program. In my home state of MT, the list of LWCF-funded access projects is so long, it would take pages to name them all.

The last budget from Congress would divert those funds completely, reducing the funding to ZERO, using LWCF royalties to fund pet projects outside the intent of the deal made in 1965. Not acceptable to those of us who hunt, fish, and recreate on public lands.

With the platform of our TV show and our website both being devoted to public land hunting, I feel it is important for me to work with people who can make a difference in this program continuing. In this case, Senator Jon Tester and I had a discussion about LWCF and what hunters can do to bring pressure in an effort to have LWCF funded as intended/promised.

If you enjoy public lands and access to such, make sure your Congressional delegation knows that the LWCF program, and the public access it provides, is important to you. Hope I get to visit with others in Congress about this extremely important program. If so, I will remind them that "a deal is a deal."

On the road home from hunting in AZ and saw that this video got posted and wanted to share with all of you here. Since this show and platform is about public land hunting, I want to make sure everyone is aware of this issue and how they can help by reaching out to there Congressional delegation.

Here is a link to the video we shot with Senator Tester last summer when he was in town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eUhehpfsdk

Our platforms allow me to talk to our delegation and/or their staff on a regular basis, on topics such as this. Senator Tester and I talk about lots of public land and hunting issues. All our Congressional delegation have a standing offer to have us film the same discussion and use of our show and web platform so they can let the hunters know their positions on LWCF and other programs important to hunters.

I think there will be other videos coming from that day, stating what hunters can do to improve the situation with public access, land management, and funding for such.

This program is up for renewal next year. If not renewed, it goes away permanently, which is even worse than the budget fights that zero out that line item in the budget.

Somewhere I saw a map of projects that have been funded with this program. I will try to find it. When you look at it, you will see many places you have probably hunted/fished.
 
Randy, thanks so much for using your talents to fight our cause. Every sportsman should stop what they are doing and take note of the meaning of this.
 
Under the base layers, you can select LWCF projects. This isn't a complete list for Montana, but it does show how critical this program is if you hunt or fish:

http://map.mtbullypulpit.org/

Thanks for doing this Randy. LWCF is a critical component not only for securing more access, adding new Wildlife Management Areas, or new Fishing Access Sites but for conservation easements to protect winter range & the Fund helps city parks, funds tennis courts, swimming pools, etc in our towns.
 
I’m not big on wasting people’s time. If I talk about a topic, I owe it to viewers that it be important to public land hunters. Very few topics are worth discussing at length, and this topic is one you will hear me talk about a lot over the next year – the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Yeah, LWCF is that import to hunters and anglers, and the access we need. LWCF works for everybody..... especially hunters.

You saw a video I posted last week with Montana's Senator Jon Tester. Today I am posting another video, the second of three that speaks to how important it is that hunters and angler get involved in the discussion about LWCF funding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3deF60icto&feature=youtu.be

This topic is one with such great importance to the future of hunting access and public lands that I feel compelled to provide these videos and to continue writing about it in my posts. The future of our public hunting access will be greatly influenced by the outcome of the discussion on LWCF funding. I'm lucky that I get to bend the ear of politicians, but it's every hunter's duty to send in comments or phone calls to their elected officials telling them. The Land & Water Conservation Fund Matters.
 
Why this fight is important:
http://missoulian.com/news/local/cr...cle_63474bea-6138-11e3-bd2b-0019bb2963f4.html

Several states, led by poorly informed legislators, are trying to eliminate you public lands.

It's bleeding down to the county level. If you think your property taxes are high now, wait until the state decides you need to pay for fire suppression on what was once federal land.

LWCF is an economic powerhouse especially for the outdoor industry. Public lands are the engine that drives that economy in the west. LWCF gets us access to those lands.
 
This topic is very important....both Randy and Ben have it right.

Its important enough that BHA sent several of its chairs/co-chairs to Washington D.C. this past September to express to our Congressional Delegation just how critical fully funding the LWCF really is.

Time to step it up fellas....

Heres a portion of a report back that one of the WY co-chairs, Jerry Egge, provided:

September 29, 2013


Greetings Wyoming BHA Members,

On September 9th, BHA volunteers from eight states and four staff
members descended upon Washington, D.C. I thought I would tell you
about my portion of the trip and let you know about a pending chapter
gathering in Cheyenne.

Following our orientation on the first day, twelve of us headed to the
halls of congress. I met with Senator Enzi and on the next day with
Senator Barrasso and their legislative assistances. We educated them
on behalf of full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and
the difference between the House and Senate versions of the
Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act.
Both
issues will help solidify hunting and fishing as a priority in US Fish
and Wild Service, US Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management
land use management plans, which we support. In short, the House
version contains provisions that attack the Wilderness Act and
National Environmental Policy Act. The Senate version does not. BHA
supports the Senate version. We wanted to make sure folks knew where
BHA stood and if legislation starts to move, we have laid the
groundwork. We also wanted to make this a watershed moment in DC for
BHA—we accomplished both. In addition to meetings on the hill, we also
had very productive meetings with the Department of Interior staff and
potential funders.

Since I’ve returned, I have followed up and corresponded with Senators
Enzi and Barrasso. For your interest, I’ve separately attached copies
of my emails to them.

Hope you’re taking time to enjoy our wild outdoors, waterways, and wildlife.

Jerry Egge
WY BHA Board of Director
 
From what I was told they were receptive and positive...but they're politicians.

What else needs to be said?
 
Thanks Randy. I'll be letting my elected officials know how I feel and I'll spread the word to friends/family to do the same.
 
Is is reasonably possible to trace back a decade or maybe two to look at the historical voting of who has diverted the funds?

My guess is that it has started at House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, and probably impossible to trace but I think it would be an awesome talking point is some smoke could be cleared.
 
http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/op...aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

We spend a lot of time in this space talking about access issues that affect only a handful of sportsmen. Maybe it's a blocked road into a chunk of National Forest land, or a rule that prohibits deer hunters from accessing state land in a single state.

Those are big deals to folks who are locked out of opportunities, but what if I told you of an access issue that affects anyone in America who picks up a gun or a bow or a fishing rod or who straps on a hiking boot?

It's the fate of a Congressionally authorized fund that is supposed to provide up to $900 million annually to a whole host of outdoors-related projects, from keeping our rivers and lakes clean to building playgrounds in towns across America, to buying open space and preserving public access to public lands.

It's called the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and it's older than I am. Created by Congress back in 1965, the fund is derived from a fraction of royalties paid by oil and gas drillers who extract publicly owned minerals from the ocean floor just off the coastline of America. The LWCF was born in the ecology movement of the 1960s, but it's turned out to be genius public policy. For starters, it's an appropriate mitigation for the impacts of offshore drilling, which has made many energy companies very wealthy by extracting a public resource. Secondly, it funds lots of projects that are good for all Americans, and doesn't use a dime of taxpayers' money to do it. And lastly, it's good for the economy, as every dollar that is invested in clean air and water and public access returns $4 to the economy.

I continue to be proud to be associated with this publication.
 
Today it was announced the Ken Salazar has teamed up with Louise Bacon (he's the guy that donated the huge chunk of land down in southern CO northern New Mexico last year, biggest gift evah to the people of the US) to create a non partisan political PAC to fund candidates who strongly support the full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot...-loius-bacon-to-form-conservation-pac/103489/

That's called leverage, or a force multiplier. A little money spent on buying politicians, ahem I mean contributing to campaign funds, and $900 million per year for conservation is the end result.
 
Today it was announced the Ken Salazar has teamed up with Louise Bacon (he's the guy that donated the huge chunk of land down in southern CO northern New Mexico last year, biggest gift evah to the people of the US) to create a non partisan political PAC to fund candidates who strongly support the full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. http://blogs.denverpost.com/thespot...-loius-bacon-to-form-conservation-pac/103489/

That's called leverage, or a force multiplier. A little money spent on buying politicians, ahem I mean contributing to campaign funds, and $900 million per year for conservation is the end result.

Wow, that could level the playing field. Good news for access and public lands.
 
Some more insight to the issue and the guy behind the new PAC that former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is working with. Seems Louise Bacon is a billionaire (good for him) hunter (good for us and wildlife), who has a heavy bent for conservation and public lands (even "gooder" for us and wildlife).

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/...azar-s-New-Conservation-PAC-and-the-Behind-It

Some very interesting comments follow this blog post at Daily Kos.
 
Just last week, a letter was sent by some members of Congress asking for the LWCF program be reauthorized when it comes up for renewal in September, 2015. If your Congressman is on the list below, please thank them.

LWCF Letter 12 13 13 (Signed)_Page_1.jpg

LWCF Letter 12 13 13 (Signed)_Page_2.jpg

LWCF Letter 12 13 13 (Signed)_Page_3.jpg

Seeing this is good news. Just need to keep the pressure on.

I see my Congressman, Steve Daines, is on this list. He will be getting a big Thank You from me.
 
I think that's the first time in 12 years a Congressman from Montana has been on an LWCF signon letter.

Good for him. :)
 
I am pleasantly surprised to see Daines signature on that letter.

I sent him a thank you and a little encouragement to also support the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act.
 
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