After over 50 years of repeatedly having its coffers raided by Congress, the widely beloved Land and Water Conservation Fund will now enjoy full and permanent funding thanks to the Great American Outdoors Act. Reaction to the act’s passage was like the readout from a stress meter on the San Andreas fault, highlighting a rift that exists in today’s conservation community. As the legislation made its journey through the House and Senate and onward to its eventual signature by Donald Trump, hook-and-bullet conservation organizations repeatedly erupted in celebration while other, less recreation-focused, groups offered a more measured response. Ducks Unlimited’s chief executive, Adam Putnam, labeled the passage of the act as “one of the great conservation achievements of our lifetime .” Backcountry Hunters and Anglers CEO Land Tawney said the act was “a once in a generation piece of conservation and public access legislation,” adding that sportsmen and women “will revel in this win for our lifetimes.” Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, called it “the most important conservation bill to go before the U.S. Senate in decades.” Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, declared that “passing the Great American Outdoors […]
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