BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 27| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AJR 27 Author: Levine (D), et al. Amended: 9/2/15 in Assembly Vote: 21 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 62-13, 9/2/15 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: The Land and Water Conservation Fund SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This resolution urges the Congress of the United States to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) in order to maintain and protect land and water resources. ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative findings: 1)The 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. 2)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. 3)Since its inception, the LWCF has delivered over $2 billion to California, and has provided hundreds of millions of dollars AJR 27 Page 2 more for projects through its matching fund program. 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. 4)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. 5)The LWCF will expire if not reauthorized by Congress before September 30, 2015 This resolution urges the Congress of the United States to reauthorize and fully fund the LWCF in order to maintain and protect land and water resources. Background According to the author, The LWCF is the country's premiere land conservation program that provides funds for, among other things: recreational areas for hiking, biking, hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching; for national, state and local parks; for preservation of historic battlefields and other cultural resources; for protection of watersheds, wetlands, water supplies and water quality; for conservation of working landscapes, including forests, farms and ranches; for wildlife refuges and other wildlife conservation projects; and for support of AJR 27 Page 3 local economies through increased outdoor recreation. The LWCF is funded from a small percentage of federal offshore oil and gas drilling fees. While up to $900 million per year from offshore royalties is authorized for the LWCF, a considerably smaller percentage has actually been appropriated for the conservation and recreation purposes for which the LWCF was created. However, despite chronic underfunding, since its creation in 1965 the LWCF has protected lands in every state, and supported over 41,000 state and local land and water projects. Of all states, California has been the biggest recipient of LWCF monies, receiving approximately $2.06 billion over the past 50 years. These funds have leveraged hundreds of millions of dollars in matching funds for California, and have protected such iconic places as Lake Tahoe, the California Desert, Point Reyes National Seashore, the Sonoma Coast, and Sierra Nevada forests. The Forest Legacy Program, which protects working forests, is also funded through the LWCF, and has leveraged approximately $12 million in federal LWCF funds for a total investment of $62 million in California's forests. Studies have shown that every $1 of LWCF revenues invested, returns $4 in economic value in the form of jobs, wages, consumer spending, and tax revenues generated. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified9/4/15) Audubon California California Council of Land Trusts California State Park Foundation California Trout AJR 27 Page 4 California Waterfowl Association Ducks Unlimited Eastern Sierra Land Trust Northcoast Regional Land Trust Pacific Forest Trust Peninsula Open Space Trust Save the Redwoods League Sempervirens Fund Sequoia Riverlands Trust Solano Land Trust The Nature Conservancy The Trust for Public Land Trout Unlimited Wildlife Heritage Foundation OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/4/15) None received ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 62-13, 9/02/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins NOES: Travis Allen, Brough, Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Chang, Jones, Mayes, Melendez Prepared by: Jonas Austin / SFA / (916) 651-1520 9/4/15 14:34:16 **** END **** AJR 27 Page 5