FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 2020

MCV on Trump’s 97% cut to public lands: ‘Another attack from the swamp’

(BILLINGS, Mont.) – Montana Conservation Voters released the following statement from Executive Director Aaron Murphy following President Trump’s release of his proposed 2021 budget, which recommends a 97 percent cut to the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund’s funding from last year:

“This budget is yet another attack from the swamp on Montana’s public lands. Senator Daines has an opportunity to give Montanans more than lip service. He needs to admit the President’s budget fails public lands, then secure full and dedicated funding for those public lands—like he promised.”

President Trump’s 2021 budget recommends only $14.7 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, even though it is supposed to receive $900 million every year.

First established by Congress in 1965, LWCF has been funded by offshore oil and gas royalties, not taxpayer dollars, providing 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 every year.

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Montana Conservation Voters is a statewide non-partisan membership organization dedicated to fighting for Montana’s air, water, open spaces, wildlife and public health. MCV provides voter participation services to over 72,000 Montanans. Visit mtvoters.org for more details.

CONTACT
Whitney Tawney
Montana Conservation Voters
whitney@mtvoters.org
406-254-1593