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In 1958, increasing consciousness of public health and environmental issues and an expanding need for recreational space combined into a bipartisan mandate creating the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC). After three years of research, the Commission developed specific recommendations for a national recreation program. The ORRRC report of 1961 emphasized that State and local, as well as Federal, governments and the private sector were key elements in the total effort to make outdoor recreation opportunities available. The Commission's major recommendation's were:

Congressional Acts

Largely as a result of ORRRC's work, the Kennedy Administration introduced funding legislation in 1962, during the second session of the 87th Congress. No action was taken in that Congress, but on February 14, 1963, President Kennedy again proposed legislation that would establish a "Land and Water Conservation Fund" to assist States in planning, acquisition and development of recreation resources and to finance new Federal recreation lands.

Following Commission recommendations, great emphasis was placed on planning for future recreation opportunities. In its hearings on the LWCF bill, Congress defined requirements for Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plans (SCORPs) that would be a condition of State grants.

Recognizing the rapid loss of the land and water recreation base to development, one of the proposed legislation's major purposes was to reduce the lag in recreation land acquisition. The House Interior Committee's report on the bill stated that "During the first years of the program, emphasis will necessarily be on planning and land acquisition activities. It is important that acquisition be undertaken before the land becomes unavailable either because of skyrocketing prices, or because it has been preempted for other uses."

The Senate Interior Committee's hearing report addressed the distribution of grant funds. It said that "in providing outdoor recreation resources and facilities for the American people, the greatest emphasis should be given to those areas with large concentrations of people."

Congress clearly indicated that the new Federal program should have a lasting effect on the supply of recreation sites and facilities by requiring that sites assisted be added permanently to the national recreation estate. As a result, Section 6(f)(3) of the Act states unequivocally that grant-assisted areas are to remain forever available for "public outdoor recreation use," or be replaced by lands of equal market value and recreation usefulness.

With vigorous bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress, the bill was passed and signed into law on September 3, 1964, as Public Law 88- 578, 16 U.S.C. 460l-4. The Act established a funding source for both Federal acquisition of park and recreation lands and matching grants to state and local governments for recreation planning, acquisition and development. It set requirements for state planning and provided a formula for allocating annual LWCF appropriations to the States and Territories.

Initially, three sources of revenue to the fund were designated: proceeds from sales of surplus Federal real property, motorboat fuel taxes and fees for recreation use of Federal lands. The level of funding from FY 1966 through FY 1968 reached about $100 million per year, which was far short of Congress' expectations. To remedy this shortfall, it was proposed that Outer Continental shelf (OCS) mineral leasing receipts be tapped. In 1968, P.L. 90-401 raised the Fund's level to $200 million a year for five years, beginning in FY 1969, making OCS revenues available to cover the difference between this minimum level and receipts from other sources.

By 1970, growing demands on the Fund led to enactment of P.L. 91- 485, which increased the LWCF again to a $300 million annual level from FY 1971 through FY 1989. This amendment reveals that Congress' perception of needs for the Fund program had expanded in three ways: the State grant program should give more emphasis to urban parks and recreation areas; the grant program should help acquire and develop recreation facilities within urban areas, not just nearby; and the Federal side of the Fund program should also contribute to meeting close-to-home recreation needs.

The Fund's increase in authorized funding to its current level came with enactment of P.L. 95-42 in June 1977, which increased the LWCF to $900 million for FY 1978 and subsequent years. Congress also enacted P.L. 95-625, which created, among other things, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program (UPARR), as a complement to the LWCF program. This program encouraged local governments to rehabilitate existing recreation facilities, demonstrate innovative programs, and plan for overall revitalization of community recreation systems.

Since 1965, funding for the grants program has averaged approximately $100 million per year, with a peak of $369 million in 1979. In the last 20 years, annual appropriations have decreased to a low of zero funding in 1982 and 1996-1999. However, the drought ended with a $40 million appropriation in FY 2000, and $89 million in FY 2001.

Program Accomplishments

For the LWCF Grants program, over $3.3 billion have been appropriated to the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas for planning, acquisition and development of outdoor recreation opportunities in the United States. Through FY 2000, a total of 38,000 projects have been approved to support acquisition of open space for park lands or the development of outdoor recreation facilities. They are in every geographic region of the U.S, in every county. and almost all localities.

Federal grant obligations totalling $3.3 billion have been matched by State and local contributions, for a total LWCF grant investment of $6.6 billion. States have received about 8,200 grants and counties some 4,800, while cities, towns and other local agencies matched more than 24,000.

Of the total number of projects, about 10,000 have helped states and localities to acquire some 2.3 million acres of park land, including combination projects where donated land values matched the cost of development. Almost 27,000 projects have been for the development of outdoor recreation facilities. Seventy-five percent of the total funds obligated have gone to locally sponsored projects to provide close-to-home recreation opportunities that are readily accessible to America's youth, adults, senior citizens and the physically or mentally challenged. In addition to thousands of smaller recreation areas, grants have helped to acquire and develop new parks of statewide or national significance such as the Allagash Wilderness Waterway (Maine), Liberty State Park (New Jersey), the Willamette Greenway (Oregon), Platte River park (Denver), Herman Brown Park (Houston), and Illinois Beach State Park (Chicago).

Legacies of the Grant Program

From a historical perspective, LWCF grants have contributed greatly to the outdoor recreation estate over the past 33 years. It is significant that a considerable amount of the income going to the Fund has come about through the leasing of offshore oil rights, thus recycling an important natural resource back to public use. While one resource is being used another is being protected.

In addition to the large number of projects, LWCF grants have had substantial long-term effects on the country's overall attitudes and policies toward outdoor recreation. The first legacy of this kind is the notion, basic to the LWCF Act, that States must assume a leadership role as providers of recreation opportunities.

Today, there is clear evidence that the grant program has been successful in encouraging States to take greater responsibility for the protection and development of recreation resources at every level.

The results of State leadership extend beyond simple increases in the size and number of recreation areas. Among other things, they include State actions to establish their own scenic river and recreational trail systems, to recognize the value of recreation resources in stimulating tourism and other economic opportunities, and to provide additional financial and technical assistance to local recreation efforts through State planning, grant, and loan programs. Maryland, for example, has its Program Open Space to acquire key parklands; Texas and Minnesota have dedicated portions of their cigarette taxes to support state and local recreation programs; New Jersey has a Green Acres program that provides loans as well as grants for local acquisition, rehabilitation and development.

Second, when the Fund was established, State recreation planning was essentially non-existent. Statewide recreation planning has come a long way in 30 years, and has given States and their citizens new tools to analyze recreation needs and alternatives in a systematic and responsive way. Indeed, many states now require that local governments develop recreation plans as a condition for any type of Federal or State recreation assistance.

The third legacy, and the one with the greatest impact on long-term protection of recreation resources, is the provision of Section 6(f)(3) of the Act that requires all property acquired or developed with LWCF assistance be maintained perpetually in public outdoor recreation use. Consistent enforcement over the years has ensured permanency of LWCF's contributions to the national recreation estate. The most tangible evidence of the program in future years will be the tens of thousands of recreation sites across the country that remain available for our children and our grandchildren.

In conclusion, the Land and Water Conservation Fund program is building a permanent legacy for future generations. The source of this legacy will not always be obvious to the millions of Americans, old and young, who want places to hike in the woods, swim, play ball, watch wildlife, picnic, sit under a tree, chase a pigeon or walk the dog.

But the thousands of recreation lands and opportunities created and protected by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act will remain as perpetual monuments to the foresight of its authors and the American people.

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The Beginnings — Congressional Acts — Accomplishments — Legacy

Congressional Acts

Program Accomplishments

Legacies of the Grant Program