Those of you who follow the topic of public access funding know how important the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is to that effort. Today was a great day, albeit a really cold day, for Montanans to make the case for full funding of LWCF and support for reauthorization of the program next year.
I was invited to represent the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation at a public event hosted by Montana Governor, Steve Bullock. Our guest at that event was Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, Robert Bonnie (a long title to explain he is the guy who guides the Forest Service on the issue). The Undersecretary got to hear from myself, K.C. Walsh (owner of Simms Fishing), an outfitter, a logger, and another NGO who has done great work in conserving large landscapes.
The purpose was to impress upon Undersecretary Bonnie, how important LWCF is to public land hunting and fishing access in Montana. And to show that is is also an important part of a diversified economy; that public lands and access to those lands are a job creator, an economic benefit.
Not sure how the Governor got the short straw and had to sit next to me. To the left is Undersecretary Bonnie.
It was very helpful to get a chance to explain the huge impact LWCF has made for the work we try to do at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. LWCF allows us to work in partnership with Federal and State agencies to acquire critical wildlife habitat and important parcels for public access.
I hope the Undersecretary and all attending know that RMEF is supportive of full funding of LWCF and will do all we can to see the LWCF program reauthorized. It is critical to the work RMEF is able to do. LWCF has helped RMEF bring 700,000 acres into the public estate and a large multiple more than that in the form of the adjacent lands that were previously inaccessible.
You will hear me say this until such time the program gets reauthorized - If you like to hunt and fish on public lands, there is no program more important to those opportunities as the LWCF program. It is up for reauthorization next year. We will need all hands on deck to get Congress to pass legislation that keeps this successful program going.
I was invited to represent the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation at a public event hosted by Montana Governor, Steve Bullock. Our guest at that event was Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, Robert Bonnie (a long title to explain he is the guy who guides the Forest Service on the issue). The Undersecretary got to hear from myself, K.C. Walsh (owner of Simms Fishing), an outfitter, a logger, and another NGO who has done great work in conserving large landscapes.
The purpose was to impress upon Undersecretary Bonnie, how important LWCF is to public land hunting and fishing access in Montana. And to show that is is also an important part of a diversified economy; that public lands and access to those lands are a job creator, an economic benefit.
Not sure how the Governor got the short straw and had to sit next to me. To the left is Undersecretary Bonnie.
It was very helpful to get a chance to explain the huge impact LWCF has made for the work we try to do at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. LWCF allows us to work in partnership with Federal and State agencies to acquire critical wildlife habitat and important parcels for public access.
I hope the Undersecretary and all attending know that RMEF is supportive of full funding of LWCF and will do all we can to see the LWCF program reauthorized. It is critical to the work RMEF is able to do. LWCF has helped RMEF bring 700,000 acres into the public estate and a large multiple more than that in the form of the adjacent lands that were previously inaccessible.
You will hear me say this until such time the program gets reauthorized - If you like to hunt and fish on public lands, there is no program more important to those opportunities as the LWCF program. It is up for reauthorization next year. We will need all hands on deck to get Congress to pass legislation that keeps this successful program going.
