Carriere letter: Land and Water Conservation Fund
The words “freedom” and “access” are not in the title of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, but they may as well be. LWCF conserves those values, right along with our wildlife, forests, water and soil.
Rep. Mike Simpson deserves credit for helping break a congressional logjam over LWCF. Earlier this month, Congress passed a stopgap spending bill that breathed new life into LWCF, keeping it alive for another three years.
While that is good news, Idaho families deserve a fully funded, permanent Land and Water Conservation Fund. We cannot stop now.
Idaho has made good use of the fund since it was created in 1965. Cities from Sandpoint to Soda Springs have used it to fund parks. The Boise Greenbelt, City of Rocks, Bruneau Sand Dunes, Ponderosa State Park and many others have been conserved using LWCF dollars.
The fund doesn’t cost taxpayers a dime because it merely distributes resources already owned by the American people: royalties that energy companies pay when drilling offshore. This is a great investment for Idaho.
As a father fortunate enough to raise two daughters to be outdoorswomen, I am forever grateful for LWCF.
Sean Carriere, Caldwell
This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 11:22 PM with the headline "Carriere letter: Land and Water Conservation Fund."