Conservation Will Benefit Greatly from the Great American Outdoors Act & the Land and Water Conservation Fund

June 17, 2020 — The passage today by the U.S. Senate of the Great American Outdoors Act is a tremendous victory for conservation and for outdoor recreation in general.

The act includes $900 million a year nationwide for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The Fund, which was established in 1964, was allowed to expire two years ago and subsequently reauthorized but without permanent funding.

The Great American Outdoors Act rectifies that and goes further — it mandates that $900 million be placed into the fund each year. As in the past, the money comes from royalties paid by mining and drilling companies that operate on federal land, which means there’s no additional cost to taxpayers.

The Connecticut Audubon Society and its members have actively supported the effort to make the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent and fully funded. We worked with a coalition to make sure our voice and the voices of other independent state Audubon Societies were heard in Washington.

Connecticut’s two U.S. Senators, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen. Christopher Murphy, have long been strong supporters of the fund, and deserve thanks for their hard work.

Dozens of projects in Connecticut have benefited from the fund in the past, including the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, as well as Great Mountain Forest, Skiff Mountain preserve, and Sherwood Island and Hammonasset Beach State Parks.