50 years of a law that works

Inspired legislation — like airline cuisine, a laugh-test flunker — found expression a half century ago. 2014 marks the 50th anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act and the National Wilderness Act. It’s also the anniversary of a little-known funding tool, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has boosted outdoor recreation, preserved cultural resources and conserved wild places for this generation and generations yet unborn.

The LWCF’s M.O. is reinvestment: Devote a portion of offshore oil and gas leases — property of the American people — to conserve water, wild lands and recreation. For 50 years, the LWCF has dedicated more than $16 billion across the 50 states to save and enhance natural areas, national battlefields and monuments, and river corridors.

The windfall is substantial. Washington’s recreation economy is a $8.5 billion industry sustaining 115,000 jobs.

The LWCF’s bipartisan appeal translates into projects across the Northwest, including so-called “working forests,” which can breathe life into the timber economy.

Two LWCF champions, Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, return to the Northwest for the August recess. At community shindigs, they’ll be buttonholed on gridlock in Washington and bloodshed in the Middle East. Fully funding the LWCF? It’s a question as obscure as it is intangible. But visit Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve or Deception Pass State Park and behold the tangible part.

This year, LWCF projects include $43,030 to help purchase 22 acres of the 64-acre urban North Creek Forest, Bothell’s last remaining mature forest, which serves as a learning laboratory for 9,000 students. There’s funding for Island County to purchase part of the 670-acre Trillium Community Forest, the largest contiguous forestland in the county. According to the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, LWCF proposals under review include a large-activity shelter at Arlington’s Haller Park and renovation of Edmonds’ recreational fishing pier.

Last month, the House Appropriations Committee marked up its fiscal year 2015 budget with $150 million for LWCF. It’s wiser to go with the U.S. Senate’s S. 338, co-sponsored by Murray and Cantwell, which dedicates $340 million (still shy of full funding.)

In the tangle of D.C. politics and international crises, a sensible LWCF risks getting lost. Here’s a greater-good mechanism that, except for not receiving full funding, works as it was conceived in 1964.

Washington’s heritage is knit together by its land, water and people — and so is the Northwest economy. Programs like the LWCF not only inform our bottom line, but also the legacy we impart to future generations.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Monday, July 14

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Authorities search for victims among the rubble near Blue Oak RV park after catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. The half-mile stretch occupied by two campgrounds appears to have been one of the deadliest spots along the Guadalupe River in Central Texas during last week’s flash floods. (Jordan Vonderhaar/The New York Times)
Editorial: Tragic Texas floods can prompt reforms for FEMA

The federal agency has an important support role to play, but Congress must reassess and improve it.

Comment: Midterm messaging fight for working class has begun

And Democrats have a head start thanks to the GOP’s all-in support for cuts to the social safety net.

Saunders: Considering attacks from left, ICE agents must mask

It’s not ideal, but with physical attacks against agents up 700%, the precaution is understandable.

Comment: Superman has been ‘woke’ as far back as Krypton

Conservative critics upset by the movie director’s comments on immigration need to read up on the hero’s origins.

Comment: GOP delayed worst of BBB’s cuts until after midterms

Republicans are counting on low-information voters’ party loyalty over their own financial interests.

Tufekci: Link between flood warnings and people wasn’t there

What might have saved many in Texas was a NWS coordinator position eliminated in the DOGE cuts.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Sunday, July 13

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

FILE — The sun sets over power lines in rural Ward County, Texas on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Republicans plan to terminate billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits. Experts say that will mean more greenhouse gas emissions and more dangerous heat. (Paul Ratje/The New York Times)
Commentary: Bill will deliver dirtier energy at a higher price

Cuts to clean energy policy in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will stifle our energy transition and cost us more.

Tufekci: ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ behind AI’s Nazi meltdown

That Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot defaulted to internet hate speech is concerning. Our acceptance is scarier.

Everett mayoral candidate had a role in budget problems

A mayoral candidate in Everett is being dishonest, blaming his opponent for… Continue reading

Social Security email was a false and partisan use of agency

I was appalled to get a spam email from the Social Security… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.