LWCF Update: Federal Program Expires After 50 Years Preserving Trail Experiences

The popular Lake Serene on a sunny day. Photo by Urmi.

One of the nation's primary conservation tools has expired due to Congressional inaction.

One Sept. 30, Congress allowed the Land and Water Conservation Fund to sunset, putting proposed projects into limbo. For the past 50 years, LWCF has been used to permanently protect land threatened with development by working with willing seller private landowners to add land to national, state and local parks, trails and other public lands. The program has been responsible for preserving trail experiences by protecting land that trails are on or could be developed on from incompatible development.

More than 9,000 acres along Washington's 500-mile stretch of Pacific Crest Trail are currently privately owned, meaning access is not guaranteed forever. That total acreage was once much higher, but has been greatly reduced thanks to LWCF funding.

The popular trail to Lake Serene was on the list of places that could benefit from currently proposed LWCF projects. Advocates for public lands had hoped a future LWCF grant would allow the Forest Service to purchase 200 acres from willing-seller landowners along the trail where it crosses private property. That purchase is currently on hold.

Hikers can rest easy knowing that threats to access have not yet materialized, but LWCF-funded projects like this one help prevent future land-use conflicts before they happen and ensure recreationists have adequate access to the land we all share.

Take action: help protect the landscapes trails depend on

Recreation and conservation groups are hopeful that LWCF will be reauthorized in an upcoming funding package, but there are no proposals on the table at the moment.

Contact Congress today to let them know you want to see this program reauthorized for the benefit of all Americans.

More resources

• To learn more about the Land and Water Conservation Fund, visit The Wilderness Society’s page on LWCF and the LWCF Coalition’s Washington state page.
• To learn more about how LWCF has helped Washington state, check out the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition’s “Land and Water Conservation Fund: 50 Years in Washington state.”
• Spokesman Review Editorial: Congress must extended the Land and Water Conservation Fund.