One year ago today, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in support of the Great American Outdoors Act, marking our country’s biggest conservation funding victory in decades. The bill became law a few weeks later, permanently providing dedicated funding for the Land & Water Conservation Fund, which helps communities across the continent protect and improve access to public outdoor spaces large and small.
As we look back at that major bipartisan victory, we’re looking forward to finally celebrating together - in person! Outside! - with many of our partners in the national Land & Water Conservation Fund Coalition, and with our collaborators on a Washington state project close to our hearts: protecting the Taneum watershed.
The Taneum project seeks to permanently protect 12,000 acres of irreplaceable Central Cascades forestland near the headwaters of the Yakima River. An exemplary large-scale LWCF project, reconnecting the “checkerboarded” parcels in this watershed will protect drinking water for the Yakima Valley and preserve critical fish and wildlife habitat while expanding recreation access for the area - popular with hikers, horseback riders, anglers and many others. By transferring these privately owned parcels in to public ownership, we’ll increase management efficiencies and facilitate forest-health treatments to help protect communities from catastrophic wildfire and other climate-change impacts.
The Taneum project wouldn’t be possible without the Great American Outdoors Act, and we’re working hard to secure the substantial LWCF funding needed for this transfer. Meanwhile, we’re also taking time to celebrate the special places across Washington protected by LWCF over the years. Check out the gallery below for a quick virtual trip to a sampling of these treasured spots.
Hidden Lake’s stillness is due in part to LWCF’s federal grant program, which has helped keep North Cascades National Park whole. Photo by Richard Sheibley, USGS, Public Domain.
Migratory snow geese at the Skagit Wildlife Area draw birdwatchers from around the world. This place is protected by LWCF. Photo by Michael McAuliffe.
Access to the Hoh River in Jefferson County was made possible by LWCF. Photo by Bridget Besaw.
Moses Coulee, on the spectacular Columbia Plateau in Douglas County, is protected by LWCF’s federal grant program – and it’s one of The Nature Conservancy’s largest preserves in Washington. Photo by Kit Swartz
Heybrook Lookout Trail, west of Stevens Pass, is in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, one of many National Forests protected by LWCF. Photo by Sony Thomas
Recreational access to the Skagit Wild & Scenic River is protected by LWCF. Photo by Bridget Besaw.
Columnar basalt at Deep Lake in Sun Lakes State Park, Grant County, heaven for geology geeks and boaters of all sorts. Photo by John Marshall.
The spectacular Olympic Mountains are headwaters for many salmon-bearing streams and a bucket-list destination for hikers. The Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park have both benefited from LWCF protection. Photo by John Marshall.
The San Juan Islands offer world-class recreation, thanks in part to access and protection by LWCF. Photo by Joel Rogers.
Recreation on the Puyallup River in Pierce County is accessible to more families thanks to LWCF funding. Photo by Keith Lazelle.
In the North Cascades, campers enjoy the sunset in the Mount Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest in Whatcom County, protected by LWCF. Photo by Jacob Hall
Lake Cle Elum is in Wenatchee National Forest, Kittitas County, where we’re working to protect acres of forestland along the Pacific Crest Trail with support from LWCF. Photo by Zoe van Duivenbode
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge in Pacific County is protected by LWCF’s federal grant program and is adjacent to our Ellsworth Creek Preserve. Photo by Yoav Daniel Bar-Ness
A small fix can make a big difference: learn how clarifying a confusing law could make it a lot easier for counties to protect your favorite places and spaces.
Watch and share our new video featuring partners hard at work to protect the Taneum watershed in the Central Cascades.
It’s been one year since Congress voted to permanently fund the Land & Water Conservation Fund through the Great American Outdoors Act, and we’re celebrating!
We’re working to protect the Taneum Watershed in the ancestral territory of the Yakama Indian Nation: home to rare and endangered fish and wildlife species, headwaters of the Yakima River, and epic recreational opportunities.
Let’s thank our senators and urge their colleagues in the House to move the Great American Outdoors Act forward.
Congress is close to making its biggest conservation investments in half a century.
Congress agrees that it’s important to conserve America’s lands and waters for generations to come: now’s the time to permanently #FundLWCF.
All of us who go outside — for a vigorous uphill hike or just a deep breath of fresh, cool air — need Congress to reauthorize LWCF now, and we need your voice.
The popular Land & Water Conservation Fund was due for reauthorization by the end of September, and Congress has let it expire instead. Tell your members this isn’t OK.
The clock runs out on the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at the end of the federal fiscal year, on Sept. 30. But it doesn’t have to — we are calling upon our members of Congress to permanently reauthorize this program before it’s too late.
We spent yesterday morning in the company of more than a hundred friends and neighbors at Green Lake Park in Seattle, gathered together in support of America’s most important conservation program, the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), and all the special places it protects.
Hundreds of special places in Washington owe their existence to America’s most important conservation program.
Act today and let Congress know the importance of the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which has supported parks and trails in every part of our state.
The federal government will now be able to use disaster relief dollars to pay for fighting catastrophic wildfires, which will fund wildfire suppression like other natural disasters.
From our coastline to our mountains, forests, and shrub steppe, Washington’s abundant natural beauty and public recreation opportunities make for huge economic returns statewide.
Nature shouldn’t be a partisan issue. And we are confident that everyone, regardless of political affiliation, wants a world where people and nature can thrive.