BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 27|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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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
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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
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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
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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 ****
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