Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act of 2013
Key claim: This Senate bill would permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, let it spend its money without yearly appropriations, and set aside at least 1.5% of annual funding for hunting, fishing, and other recreation access to existing federal public land.
Abstract
(S338 · 113th Congress) Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act of 2013 - Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to make permanent the authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Makes monies covered into the Fund available for expenditure to carry out the purposes of the Act without further appropriation. Requires not less than 1.5% of the annual authorized funding amount to be made available for projects that secure recreational public access to existing federal public land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes. Latest action (2013-02-14): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
Whether the LWCF is subject to annual appropriations or funded automatically has been the central design fight over the program for decades, driving swings in acquisition, state grants, and access projects year to year. This 2013 bill is an early example of the mandatory-funding-plus-access-set-aside model that eventually shaped later LWCF reforms, and its failure illustrates how long the shift took to enact.