Investing in America's great outdoors

By Joe La Tourrette

OregonLive.com

July 24, 2010

Oregon's 300 miles of ocean coastline, 27 million acres of forestlands, and 112,000 miles of rivers and streams have made it a mecca for those who love fishing, hunting and observing nature. Outdoor recreation is part of our Northwest way of life. But without continued investments to protect wildlife habitat, clean water and public access, it's a way of life that's endangered.

This summer, representatives of the Obama administration are traveling around the country as part of the America's Great Outdoors initiative, to hear from the public about what we would like to see in the nation's conservation agenda. I hope they get the message from the public that support for comprehensive legislation such as the House of Representatives' CLEAR Act (HR3534) and for making public investments in conserving important fish and wildlife habitat is vital to Oregon's many sportsmen and other wildlife enthusiasts. And this support should include full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

In 1965, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a trust fund that was intended to balance the use of one natural resource -- offshore oil and gas -- with protection of important land and water resources elsewhere. A small portion of offshore energy leasing revenues is supposed to be used to acquire important habitat and recreational land, and to improve public access to fish, wildlife and other natural resources. Since 1965, this program has funded expansion of our federal wildlife refuge system and many other natural areas in Oregon, including major projects at Tualatin National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon coast wildlife refuges, the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area and Hart Mountain Antelope Range.

But not all LWCF projects in Oregon have been on federal lands. For many years, the state and local component of the Land and Water Conservation Fund supported hundreds of smaller projects that are important to recreational hunters and anglers around the state, including public boat marinas and access at Hood River, Depoe Bay and The Dalles; fishing access sites on the Willamette, Rogue and Minam rivers; and recreational access to many state wildlife management areas.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a critical tool for protecting our conservation tradition and our outdoor lifestyle. One of the best and biggest examples of how the fund has safeguarded public access is in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area on the Snake River in eastern Oregon.

As the deepest canyon in North America, Hells Canyon is a renowned hunting and fishing destination for big game, upland birds, chinook salmon, steelhead and other game fish. Nearly 6,000 acres of the canyon were once threatened by private development. But thanks to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we now have public access along 13 miles of the river and tributary streams, where an estimated 35 percent of the Imnaha basin's chinook salmon catches were recorded last year.

Although the Land and Water Conservation Fund has made many great investments in Oregon's natural environment, its effectiveness has been diminished by the fact that it's not a permanent, dedicated fund -- and Congress has failed to annually appropriate the full $900 million a year originally promised to the program. In the past decade, Congress has appropriated only an average of $313 million annually, or less than 5 percent of the available offshore oil and gas revenues.

As a result of inconsistent and unreliable funding, federal land management agencies have not in many cases been able to work with willing sellers who wanted to protect important habitat and provide more places for outdoor recreation.

But efforts are under way to change that situation, with support coming from committed leaders in Washington, D.C., such as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and many members of Congress. Rep. Nick Rahall, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, has called for full funding of LWCF in the CLEAR Act. Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon signed on in support of the bill last week, and we hope the rest of the Oregon delegation supports the bill as it moves through the House. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden of Oregon have joined Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Max Baucus to co-sponsor Senate legislation that would also guarantee full funding for LWCF. Their efforts should be commended.

Full and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund can be the glue that holds together the administration's America's Great Outdoors initiative. Oregon's natural spaces need it, and we should demand it through passage of federal legislation.

Joe La Tourrette is the Oregon-Washington field representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.