Since 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has been a critical source of funding for important river access projects and other recreational pursuits across the country. In addition to ensuring access to paddling, the Fund supports creating and maintaining the places where we reconnect with nature and our families and friends–from local soccer fields and playgrounds all the way up to State and National Parks. The Fund also goes towards projects that protect water quality, preserve open space for wildlife habitat and protect communities from natural hazards.

LWCF funds come from fees that oil and gas companies pay for being able to drill in public offshore waters, and have had a staggering benefit across our nation.  This fund however is set to expire on September 30, 2015 unless Congress reauthorizes it. We need LWCF for the future as land prices and development pressures rise and access to the outdoors becomes all the more important to communities and individuals.

We’re calling on all paddlers to reach out to their Congressional representatives and ask them to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund. 

LWCF dollars have bought and built awesome river access sites like the BZ access on Washington State’s White Salmon River, and protected large swaths of the river corridors we care about like the Cheat and Gauley in West Virginia. Check out this interactive map of a few LWCF projects that are near and dear to whitewater paddlers, and then use this quick and easy tool to contact your political representatives.