With time running out on the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund that sends billions of dollars out into the states to support recreation, efforts are ramping up to garner public pressure to ensure Congress renews the program.

A "new and urgent Care2 petition," signed by more than 55,000 people (through Thursday afternoon), calls on the Interior Department to take immediate action to protect the National Park System and save the critically important Land and Water Conservation Fund that helps fund them.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund is set to expire at the end of September. It is funded through revenues from offshore drilling leases auctioned by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The Care2 petition calls on the Interior Department and U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to halt the August 19 offshore oil lease auction in Louisiana until Congress reauthorizes the fund.

The petition signers fear that if Congress fails to reauthorize the fund, major oil corporations will be able to secure leases to drill without revenues contributing to national parks.

Ahead of the scheduled BOEM auction, Care2 petition creator Aaron Viles and organizers from Environment Texas will hold a protest on August 17 in Lafayette Square, New Orleans, to protest the expiration of the LWCF and urge the Interior Department to halt the oil lease sale.

LWCF was established in 1965 and receives no taxpayer funds. If it’s allowed to expire, hundreds of local, state, and national park and preservation projects will be delayed or abandoned, petition author Aaron Viles says.

Already, LWCF revenues from offshore drilling have conserved more than 7 million acres of land and funded more than 40,000 parks and preservation projects, according to the Center for American Progress.

“The Obama administration can show important leadership for outdoor conservation and recreation by cancelling the Gulf of Mexico energy auction, currently scheduled for August 19, 2015,” Mr. Viles writes on the Care2 petition. “This bold action would encourage Congress to take their responsibility for our nation's natural heritage seriously.”

On Thursday, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced $42 million in LWCF funding to states to promote outdoor recreation and conservation. The funding is distributed to all 50 states, territories, and the District of Columbia. In announcing the grants, Secretary Jewell also urged Congress to reauthorize the program and to pass President Obama’s proposal to guarantee permanent full funding of $900 million a year that is authorized under the law.

“A half century ago, Congress established a landmark law to use some revenues from offshore oil and gas development to help states and communities across America set aside green spaces, build boat docks and ball fields, and undertake other recreation projects,” Secretary Jewell said. “Today, Congress has the opportunity to continue this great legacy by permanently reauthorizing and fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund.”

The National Park Service, which administers the LWCF State and Local Assistance Grant program (State-side), is distributing the $42 million to states for recreational and conservation projects. States match the funding by at least 50 percent and determine how to leverage the funding to support the priorities of local communities, such as building parks and ballfields, providing hunters and anglers access to rivers or public lands, and conserving natural landscapes for public use and enjoyment.

Secretary Jewell made the funding announcement with Cleveland, Ohio, Mayor Frank Jackson at the dedication of the first segment of the Cuyahoga-Lake Link's Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail. The trail, when completed, will provide the first-ever connection of Cuyahoga Valley National Park to Lake Erie, helping provide public access to the river.

To date, Cuyahoga Valley National Park has received more than $148 million in funding through the LWCF, according to Interior officials, who added that the funding has made it possible for the Park Service to protect more than 20,000 acres within the park boundary. The Centennial Trail, made possible through private-public partnerships, is an example of an urban park project that could benefit from future state-side LWCF funding.

Since the inception of the Fund, more than $4 billion has been made available to state and local governments to fund more than 40,000 projects located in nearly every county throughout the nation.