US Senators Gardner, Daines, Bipartisan Colleagues Celebrate President’s Support for Full LWCF Funding
Gardner and Daines Secured President Trump’s Support for Full and Permanent Funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
Washington D.C. – March 4, 2020 – U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Steve Daines (R-MT) held a press conference today announcing they have secured President Donald Trump’s support for bipartisan legislation to provide full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and address the $12 billion maintenance backlog in our national parks.
NOTE: Click here or the picture above to view the press conference.
“We are proud to announce that we have secured the President’s support to provide full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and address the maintenance backlog at our national parks, and the bipartisan group here today demonstrates the strong backing these programs benefit from in Congress.” said Senator Gardner. “The LWCF supports projects in Colorado and all across our country at no cost to the taxpayer, and fighting every year to figure out how much money the program will receive doesn’t provide the long-term planning certainty that our outdoor and conservation community deserves. I thank President Trump and Leader McConnell for their support and look forward to getting full, permanent funding signed into law.”
“This is a historic day for conservation, Montana and this nation. I am proud to stand here today and announce that after my meeting with President Trump, Senator Gardner and Leader McConnell, we have the support we need to provide full and mandatory funding for LWCF and address the maintenance backlog at our national parks,” said Senator Daines. “For Montanans, protecting our public lands is about protecting our way of life. That’s why I’ve made it my top priority since coming to Congress to fight for LWCF and our parks. I look forward to getting this historic conservation victory across the finish line for future generations of Montanans.”
The entire press conference can be viewed here.
Gardner is a champion for the Land and Water Conservation Fund in the U.S. Senate:
- In 2019, Gardner led the fight to pass and have signed into law by the President S. 47, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, which included a Gardner-sponsored bill to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which Gardner has been pushing for since his first month in the Senate.
- Conservation groups in Colorado and across the country praised Gardner’s efforts to secure full and permanent funding for the LWCF in November 2019.
- The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed S. 1081, the bipartisan Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act in November 2019, a bill introduced by Gardner that will make the full funding of LWCF mandatory every fiscal year.
- In October 2019, Gardner and a bipartisan group of Senators introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill to fully fund the LWCF.
- Senators Gardner and Michael Bennet (D-CO) called on the leaders of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives to include full, permanent funding for the LWCF in the fiscal year 2020 funding agreement in September 2019.
- In April 2019, Gardner received the 2019 National Park Heritage Award from the National Parks Conservation Association for his leadership in the signing into law of S. 47, which included permanent reauthorization of the LWCF.
Cory Gardner is a member of the U.S. Senate serving Colorado. He sits on the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, the Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee, and is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.