As the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) program celebrates
its 50th Anniversary, U.S. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell visited western
North Carolina to celebrate the positive economic impacts and successes of the
program.
LWCF is the only federal program dedicated to the continued
conservation of our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness,
civil war battlefields, as well as creating and developing state and local
parks. In western North Carolina LWCF has helped conserve treasured places such
as the Blue Ridge Parkway, Chimney Rock State Park, and French Broad River Park
and Greenway.
"President Johnson and a
bipartisan Congress got it right when they established the Land and Water
Conservation Fund, embracing the simple concept that when we take something
from the earth - namely, oil and gas from public lands offshore - we should
return something back to the earth by investing in our land, water and wildlife
heritage," said Sally Jewell in the Department of Interior media advisory.
"Fifty years later, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has made huge
economic contributions to local communities in every state, helping to establish
local parks, protect clean water sources and create jobs through outdoor
recreation. As we look to the next 50 years, we need to ensure that we continue
this great legacy by fully and permanently funding this innovative
program."
LWCF is funded using a small portion of revenues from federal oil
and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, not taxpayer dollars. Though it
has played a vital role in boosting local economies across the country, it is
set to expire in 2015 without action from Congress. North Carolina Senator
Richard Burr joined Secretary Jewell at events on Wednesday. The Republican
Senator has been a strong supporter of LWCF and sponsored legislation to fully
fund and reauthorize the program.
"We are blessed with
great beauty in western North Carolina, with some of the oldest mountains in
the world and clean drinking water, so clean in fact the second and third
largest craft brewers in the USA decided to make WNC their east coast
headquarters" stated Karen Cragnolin, executive director of
RiverLink. . "Funding from LWCF helps ensure that our natural assets and
the jobs they create are available to benefit North Carolinian's for generations to come."
The Outdoor Industry Association has found that active outdoor
recreation generates $19.2 billion annually in consumer spending in North
Carolina, supports 192,000 jobs across the state that generate $5.6 billion in
wages and salaries and produces $1.3 billion annually in state and local tax
revenue.
Cragnolin also said, "We are witnessing the rebirth of
the French Broad River and it is truly an economic miracle,
authentic to our heritage and an environmental treasure for all of
WNC as a destination for everyone to live, work and play. Former
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt visited the French Broad at
RiverLink's invitation and sang its praises along with Wilma Dykeman at
French Broad River Park after he floated the river."
Jewell's visit is part of a series of events the Administration is
holding across the country to celebrate this important program. She will visit
Indiana, New Mexico and Arizona later in the week to emphasize the fund's role
in establishing urban parks and refuges that connect city dwellers, especially
young people, to the great outdoors.
Join RiverLink
today and help keep the French Broad clean, drinkable, swimmable, fishable and
accessible for today and for all the tomorrows to come
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