This 50-year-old conservation program could run out without GOP support

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

The Interior Department started an effort this week to get a conservation program that turns 50 this year over the hill, but first it needs to make sure House Republicans don't push it over a cliff.

 

The Land and Water Conservation Fund, a matching grant program that gets its funding from federal offshore oil and gas revenue, is running up against the clock. Its $900 million authorization expires next year, and the Obama administration and its environmental allies need the support of GOP lawmakers to keep it alive.

 

"Without action from Congress, the fund will disappear within a year," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said during a Monday media call about the program, which is a chief driver for parks, hunting and fishing opportunities, green space and Civil War battlefield maintenance. The administration is also portraying it as part of its broader climate change efforts, as it has sought to expand natural buffers such as wetlands and forests that mitigate flooding and other extreme weather events linked to climate change.