Committee advances conservation bills
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on Nov. 19 to advance two key conservation bills.
• The Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act would provide mandatory funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses oil and gas revenues for land conservation projects nationwide. If the bill ultimately becomes law, it would complete the second half of a major victory for public lands and outdoor recreation that began with permanent authorization of the fund in early 2019. The House Natural Resources Committee approved a companion bill in June.
• The Restore Our Parks Act would establish a fund to pay $1.3 billion per year for the next five years toward the National Park Service’s more than $11 billion deferred maintenance backlog. A House version of the bill also addresses backlogs in the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.