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Saving those special places

Where does conservation money come from?

by Jean Akers, November 20 2013

Few of us, myself included, have the money to buy everything we want. My choices are usually to save for later, work harder, earn more, want less or forget the object of my desire.

When it comes to park agencies in The Intertwine, we already know that most don’t have the money to buy the land that they want to connect our parks, trails and natural lands, and help establish ideal green infrastructure systems.

So should these agencies simply want less? Forget the object of their desire? Personally, I’d rather see us, the partners of The Intertwine Alliance, working harder to keep our parks agencies hard at work.

Vancouver's Burnt Bridge Creek Trail was funded through a patchwork of sources.

How? Well, speaking of things we probably all know, let’s agree that grant funding for parks is both limited and competitive. In my six years as a park planner in Vancouver and Clark County, I’ve gained direct experience cobbling together funding sources for our natural areas and new parks and trails. My typical patchwork of funding options could be some combination of the city/county general fund (property taxes), park impact fees, real estate excise taxes, conservation futures funds, partnering agencies, private donors and community, state and federal grant programs.

Which brings me to a third thing we might intuit: every grant program can prove critical to leveraging a public land purchase, trail connection, or park project.

LWCF, now up for reauthorization, has disbursed over $3.6 billion for outdoor recreation opportunities in every U.S. county.

One of most important funding sources we Intertwiners can access -- the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) -- needs our help. The LWCF, created in 1965 and funded (albeit never fully) through federal royalties from offshore oil and gas development, will be up for reauthorization in 2015.

Over its 50-year history, LWCF -- created to protect America’s natural resources and outdoor recreation assets -- has supported many land acquisition and development projects on my side of the Columbia River. Clark County, Vancouver, Ridgefield, Camas, Battle Ground and Washougal have all received LWCF funding support, capturing over $3 million since 1976.

As a coalition, The Intertwine Alliance can provide visible support as LWCF is evaluated, pushing not only for the fund’s reauthorization, but also for improvements that would give the parks agencies of The Intertwine an extra boost.

Recommended LWCF improvements from the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals (SORP), of which I’m a member, would:

SORP wants LWCF to meet America's outdoor recreation needs for the next 50 years.

See LWCF fully and permanently funded at $900M annually;

  • Specify a percentage of monies to be directed to urban populations;
  • Allow monies to be used for restoring and repurposing existing facilities and areas; and
  • Add language that makes allocation of monies feasible for larger regional landscapes like the Columbia River watershed (and The Intertwine!)

If we want to keep the parks agencies of The Intertwine hard at work, we can start by looking at the tools we already have in our coalition toolbox: the power to raise the volume on a critical conversation. Let’s ensure that LWCF funding gets fully authorized -- and that urban regions like The Intertwine get the attention we deserve. Visit the SORP website for more info on the need to adapt and reauthorize LWCF.

Legacy lands: Lower Daybreak Regional Park in Clark County

 

Jean Akers

Through her work, Jean Akers, both landscape architect and certified planner, promotes conservation and sustainable outdoor recreation for park and trail systems in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She also serves on the Board of the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals.

The Intertwine

P.O. Box 14039 
Portland, OR 97293

503-445-0991

info@theintertwine.org

© 2016 The Intertwine Alliance
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  • Outside Voice Blog
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  • Calendar
  • Add Event to Calendar
  • Intertwine Listserv
  • Summit 2019 Keynote Address, Meera Bhat

Power of Partnership

  • Vision for Inclusive & Accountable Events
  • Intertwine Summit 2024
  • Intertwine Summit 2023
  • Intertwine Summit 2021
  • Regional Trails Advocacy Group
  • Connecting Canopies
  • Regional Urban Tree Policy & Programs Report
  • Other Partner Convenings
  • Equity & Inclusion Cohorts
  • Regional planning documents & other resources
  • Intertwine Projects
  • Partner Spotlights

The Alliance

  • Donate
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  • Partners of The Intertwine Alliance
  • List of Partners (PDF)
  • Join The Alliance
  • Partner Dues
  • Board of Directors/Public Advisors
  • Staff
  • Action Alerts & Recent Advocacy
  • Policy Committee
  • Advocacy Position
  • Strategic Plan 2019-2024
  • Equity Strategy
  • Land Acknowledgment
  • Partner Testimonials
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