line,” Bernhardt said. He called the proposal ”a
tremendous opportunity for conservation in
America” and urged Congress to “seize the day.”
Udall praised Trump’s political instincts, saying,
“the president was right to sense that this is a
popular issue.” A recent poll found that 70% of
Westerners, including majorities of both parties,
support full funding of the conservation program.
“If the president is sincere in abandoning his
administration’s previous attempts to gut” the
fund, he and other Democrats are eager to
work across party lines ”to get this done for the
American people and for future generations,”
Udall said.
Sen. Maria Cantwell , D-Wash., called the Land
and Water Conservation Fund the nation’s most
successful conservation program.
The late Washington Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson
helped create the program in the mid-1960’s,
“but over the years it has been shortchanged by
more than $20 billion,” Cantwell said. ”That’s why
I am so grateful that our years of effort to get full
and permanent funding for LWCF now has the
bipartisan support we need to make it the law of
the land.
At the same time, the bill will address an
“unacceptable” maintenance backlog at national
parks like Olympic and Mount Rainier in her
state, Cantwell said. “Passing this legislation
will be a huge boost for the outdoor recreation
economy,” she said.
Bills to boost the conservation fund and address
the maintenance backlog have bipartisan
support in the Democratic-controlled House.