A letter signed by more than 100 legislators was sent to the leadership of the U.S. House and Senate, urging their colleagues to include funding for any federal programs that serve the outdoor recreation industry in any future COVID-19 economic relief legislation that is passed.
The principle co-authors of the letter – Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.); Joe Neguse (D-Colo.): Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.); and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) – stress the importance of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which has established many of our nation’s most coveted public lands that generate billions of dollars for state and local economies. The letter urges Congress to deliver full and permanent funding for LWCF at the authorized level of $900 million to ensure continued federal investment in parks and public lands, which it says will aid the recovery of communities that rely on a strong outdoor recreation economy.
This letters follows one last week, reported here, from the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, in which it and 28 other outdoor recreation trade associations petitioned Congress to pass the Great American Outdoors Act.
Kilmer sent an announcement regarding this week’s letter to the Suburban Times of Lakewood, Wash., which you can read here.