One of my favorite places is Yellowstone National Park. Seeing hundreds of bison, bears and moose in their natural environment, hiking through tall pines, smelling the geysers - there's nothing like it.
Yellowstone - just like the Appalachian Trial, Maine's Acadia National Park, and countless local trails, memorials, and streams - has benefitted from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Since 1965, Congress has used royalties from dirty oil and gas companies to help states and local governments preserve our land and habitat. In 51 years, $17 billion has preserved 500 million acres, without using a dollar of our taxes!
Thanks to Congressional gridlock, the Land and Water Conservation Fund expired October 1. We've got a Congress that doesn't even want to conserve land and water. The good news is there's a bipartisan push to bring the fund back. Your members of Congress need to hear that you support it!
14 senators from both parties sent a letter to Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Harry Reid calling for them to reauthorize the LWCF: "For the economy, sportsmen, veterans, wildlife, and our kids and grandkids, we must permanently reauthorize LWCF. We also strongly suggest that you include mandatory full funding in any must-pass year-end legislation."
Sign the petition and tell your members of Congress to reauthorize the successful Land and Water Conservation Fund! Big Oil and Gas should keep paying to preserve the lands they threaten!
