Editor's note: The following column in support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund is from Callie Hoyt, director of Federal Government Relations at the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Many of us in the outdoor industry spent years pushing for the permanent reauthorization and full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and we were exceedingly proud when Congress overwhelmingly approved the Great American Outdoors Act last summer, which permanently funds LWCF at $900 million annually. 

That’s why we are grateful to see that Biden’s Interior Department has taken swift action to reverse the arbitrary and damaging orders of former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt that required state and local approval for any federal acquisitions from willing sellers (a provision expressly rejected during LWCF negotiations).

Former Secretary Bernhardt’s actions significantly cut any LWCF funding for federal Bureau of Land Management projects—a requirement also not found in the GAOA. By reversing these last minute changes to the state and local assistance program that undermined recreation funding, and reinstating the important Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program which supports recreation projects in urban areas - Biden is making good on the promise of the Great American Outdoors Act and its inclusion of full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

As America’s most successful conservation program since 1965, LWCF uses federal royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to support the infrastructure needed to get Americans outdoors and is an essential program that secures public access to outdoor recreation areas ranging from to local parks and lakes to national wildlife preserves, and forests. 

LWCF has also long been a go-to program for conserving and maximizing outdoor recreational boating access through investments in infrastructure like docks, ramps and parking facilities at places like the Greely Park Boat Ramp in Nashua, New Hampshire, and purchase of public lands in places like Lake Mead National Recreation Area near Las Vegas, Nevada, where LWCF helped open up popular boating access sites. Public boat launches and marinas funded by LWCF are critical to the recreational boating industry that supports over 35,000 US-based marine businesses and nearly 700,000 jobs nation-wide. It is vital that LWCF continue to fund these projects. 

A recent survey by the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable identified over 200 projects in communities across the country that are in immediate need of LWCF funding. These projects will provide boating access to places like the Missouri National Recreational River in Arkansas and build boat launches and upgrade marinas at dozens of local and rural communities across the country. 

The LWCF is typically used by federal agencies to acquire land for outdoor recreation and conservation, fund a matching grant program to assist state priorities in recreational planning and land acquisition, and support programs that safeguard endangered species habitat and protect privately owned forests. Not only is this program a very effective tool for protecting and enhancing outdoor activities and natural resource values, it’s also  smart business: studies show that for every $1 of LWCF funds invested, local communities see a $4 return in economic activity from natural resource goods and services alone. Nearly every county in the country has seen the benefits of LWCF, and public polls have shown LWCF to be one of the most popular federal programs in the country.

Thanks to the 116th Congress and the Biden Administration’s swift action to repeal last-minute attacks on the Great American Outdoors Act, we are poised to maximize the promise of LWCF and bring outdoor recreation opportunities, and new economic benefits to communities around the country. 

By implementing the provisions in the GAOA as Congress intended, the mission of LWCF can be realized by protecting important landscapes such as Idaho’s Lower Salmon River Special Management Recreation Area, and providing recreational boating access at places like Whaler Way Boat Ramp in Florida and Port Penn Boat Ramp in Delaware, and more. 

The Biden administration can work with the entire outdoor recreation community and seize this exciting new funding source and implement the program in a way that is consistent with both the spirit and language of GAOA. Americans need these projects now more than ever for opportunities to access the great outdoors and bring vital economic stimulus to communities around the country.

Callie Hoyt is Director of Federal Government Relations at the National Marine Manufacturers Association, the nation’s leading trade association representing boat, marine engine and accessory manufacturers. Collectively, NMMA members manufacture an estimated 80 percent of marine products used in North America.

choyt@nmma.org