FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 16, 2020

MCV: This shows the true nature of the Trump administration’s anti-public lands agenda

Department of Interior order threatens funding for public lands

(BOZEMAN, Mont.) — Montana Conservation Voters released the following statement from Deputy Director Whitney Tawney in response to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s controversial new secretarial order to redesign how the United States implements public lands funding through the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund:

“This shows the true nature of the Trump administration’s anti-public lands agenda. By installing public lands foes like William Perry Pendley to manage public lands agencies, it’s no surprise they’re now undermining the nation’s premier conservation fund. Up until an election year, the Trump administration consistently opposed funding for our public lands and this latest action shows their priorities haven’t changed. Senator Steve Daines told Montanans he supports full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, so we’ll be holding him accountable to actions, not just lip-service. ”

The new secretarial order requires state and county approval to acquire new acres of public land through LWCF.

First established by Congress in 1965, LWCF has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to protect public lands and increase access to outdoor recreation. LWCF has invested nearly $600 million in the Big Sky State. The fund supports Montana’s outdoor recreation economy, which sustains 71,000 Montana jobs and generates more than $7 billion in economic activity in Montana each year.

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