Trump administration hobbles federal conservation funding
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) Thanks to the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, Montana has added hundreds of recreation sites, city parks and thousands of acres of public land over the past 60 years. But a recent Trump administration order will hinder future efforts to use the funding, so conservation groups are pushing back.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed a secretarial order last week that changes how money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund can be used with all federal land except the U.S. Forest Service, which falls under the Department of Agriculture. He also announced that $437,377,607 in LWCF funding was allocated for projects in all 50 states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.
The order severely limits the amount of land that can be added to property managed by the Bureau of Land Management using LWCF money. Only land that would allow public access to an isolated BLM parcel could be considered.
Had Burgum's order gone into effect a few years ago, the Blackfoot River valley would probably look very different, because the Nature Conservancy wouldn’t have been able to transfer 37,000 acres of former Plum Creek Timber property north of the Blackfoot River to the BLM. It took six years of winning smaller LWCF grants to slowly acquire chunks of the property. When the transfer process finally ended in 2022, the total LWCF funding used was more than $9.8 million.
Amy Lindholm, Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition spokesperson, said it was fortunate that the BLM transfer was completed before this year, because now, it wouldn’t happen.
“The way they’ve written the section on the BLM projects - only doing isolated parcels - has dramatic implications for the ability to do any BLM projects in Montana or anywhere else,” Lindholm said.
LWCF money can be used to buy land for the National Park Service or the Fish and Wildlife Service but only if the parcels are within Interior Department boundaries. Lindholm said that means key portions of national scenic and historic trails that cross hundreds of miles owned by different entities, such as the Continental Divide Trail, couldn’t get funding.
Also in many areas, such as along the Rocky Mountain Front, the Fish and Wildlife Service has developed innovative partnerships with ranches that are adjacent to wildlife refuges to preserve the overall connectivity of the landscape. Lindholm said such partnerships would no longer be funded.
The final change for federal land acquisitions is a requirement that both the affected Governor and the local county commissions must provide written letters of support for any project.
Burgum's order also made a few changes to the LWCF funding for state projects, which has helped many Montana towns build city parks and helped the state acquire dozens of fishing access sites.
One change would allow states to use LWCF money to buy “Federal surplus property,” reversing existing policies that prohibit states from using LWCF grants for such purposes. The Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition said with the continuing threat of public land disposals, that change “could help create a dangerous practical pathway for federal land sales by placing the burden on states to essentially buy them back.”
By Monday, more than a dozen Montana conservation and recreation groups had digested the implications of the seven-page order and put out a joint statement calling on Montana’s Congressional delegation to oppose Burgum’s order. Pointing to all the recent parks and public lands that have been bought with LWCF funds - Mount Dean Stone near Missoula, the Haskill Basin near Whitefish, skateparks in Anaconda and Columbia Falls - the coalition said the order is a solution in search of a problem. They particularly opposed the requirement to get written letters of support from state and county politicians.
“This order adds unnecessary bureaucratic roadblocks and makes it more difficult to preserve and improve access to hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, and riding. Montana’s people and congressional delegation spoke up to fully and permanently fund LWCF, and we are disappointed to see this administration ignore bipartisan support and undermine such a broadly popular and successful program,” said Aubrey Bertram, Wild Montana federal policy director, in a release.
Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund in 1964, and it was supposed to get $900 million annually in offshore oil royalties to provide as grants for buying city parks, recreation areas and public lands. But Congress never appropriated the full amount. Often, LCWF received less than $300 million while Congress shunted the rest to other programs.
After allowing the LWCF to sunset in 2016, Congress revived and made it permanent in 2019 as part of the bipartisan John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act. But it would be another four years before the Great American Outdoors Act guaranteed that the LWCF would receive full funding every year.
The conservation groups that celebrated in 2020 were disappointed last week.
“(LWCF) is the kind of durable, bipartisan federal program that benefits everyone from anglers, hikers, boaters and hunters to public shooting range users and golfers. Montana’s Congressional leaders understand this, which is why they have championed long-term support of a fully-funded LWCF,” said David Brooks, Montana Trout Unlimited executive director. “As was the case with defending public lands, we hope their voices help the current administration reconsider the effort to undermine LWCF and the Great American Outdoors Act.”
Lindholm said Burgum won’t reverse his order, but if there’s enough public and Congressional opposition, the Department of the Interior might modify how it implements some of the changes. She’s also hoping that public pushback will dissuade the Department of Agriculture from issuing a similar order for Forest Service land.
“All these ideas have come up before Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020. But they were all voted down on a bipartisan basis, because the program works really well as it is. So this is kind of an end-run around Congress,” Lindholm said.
The Montana LWCF Coalition includes Wild Montana, Montana Audubon, Montana Trout Unlimited, Business for Montana's Outdoors and Mountain Mamas.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.