Amended in Assembly September 2, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 27

Introduced by Assembly Member Levine

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Atkins, Bloom, Brown, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gordon, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lopez, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, Mullin, O’Donnell, Quirk, Rendon, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Weber, Williams, and Wood)

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August 27, 2015

Assembly Joint Resolution No. 27—Relative to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AJR 27, as amended, Levine. The Land and Water Conservation Fund.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to reauthorize and fully fund the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund in order to maintain and preserve land and water resources.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)
was created by Congress in 1965 as a bipartisan commitment for
protection of natural areas, water resources, cultural heritage, and
outdoor recreational opportunities throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, Over the 50 years since the LWCF was created,
billions of dollars in funding have been provided to protect valuable
land and water resources, including, but not limited to, parks,
forests, rivers, lakes, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.
These investments have resulted in the permanent protection of
nearly five million acres of public lands and working landscapes;
and

WHEREAS, Despite being chronically underfunded, the LWCF
has had several positive conservation and recreation impacts
throughout the country, has protected lands in each state, and has
supported over 41,000 state and local park projects; and

WHEREAS, Since its inception, the LWCF has delivered over
$2 billion to California, and has provided hundreds of millions of
dollars more for projects through its matching fund program; and

WHEREAS, The LWCF has helped conserve some of
California’s most treasured and iconic natural resources in each
region of the state, including, but not limited to, Lake Tahoe, the
Mojave Desert, Point Reyes National Seashore, the Headwaters
Forest Reserve, the San Diego and Don Edwards San Francisco
Bay National Wildlife Refuges, working forests in the Sierra
Nevada, and Central Valley wetlands; and

WHEREAS, The LWCF has provided funding for outdoor
recreational and park programs benefitting underserved youth and
others in urban and rural communities throughout the state, and
has established a critical federal partnership with state and local
parks and communities; and

WHEREAS, Forest Legacy Program grants are also funded
through the LWCF to protect working forests, which support jobs
and sustainable forest operations and enhance wildlife habitat,
water quality, and recreation. The Forest Legacy Program grants
have provided $12 million in federal funds, which along with
matching funds have provided a total of $62 million in investments
in California forests; and

WHEREAS, The LWCF is critical to the quality of life in
California. The LWCF protects watersheds and drinking water
supplies; provides sustainable jobs in urban and rural communities;
protects the economic asset that federal, state, and local public
lands represent; conserves natural areas, wildlife habitats, and open
space from urban parks to large landscapes; improves access for
sportsmen, sportswomen, and recreationists to natural lands;
stimulates local economies and jobs that support tourism and
outdoor recreation sectors; preserves wetlands, forests, and
watersheds; and provides state and local grants to support healthy
communities; and

WHEREAS, According to the Outdoor Industry Association,
active outdoor recreation supports $85.4 billion of consumer
spending and 723,000 jobs in California, which annually generates
$27 billion in wages and salaries and $6.7 billion in state and local
tax revenue; and

WHEREAS, The United States Census Bureau reports that each
year 7.4 million people engage in outdoor recreation in California,
which contributes over $8 billion of wildlife-related recreation
spending to the state economy; and

WHEREAS, Despite the LWCF’s successes, many more lands
and resources remain vulnerable and in critical need of investment,
and many urban and rural populations remain underserved; and

WHEREAS, The LWCF will expire if not reauthorized by
Congress before September 30, 2015; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges Congress to
permanently reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water
Conservation Fund; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.