U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today sent a letter to Senate Leadership to urge a vote on a landmark bipartisan public lands package, which includes permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
Last Congress, Daines fought for several Montana conservation and lands priorities to be included in a legislative bipartisan public lands package. At the end of 2018, Daines secured commitment from Senate Leadership that the package would be brought to the floor of the Senate early in the 116th Congress.
“Notably, passage of S.47 would enact permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which will provide certainty to local landowners and public land users that LWCF will continue for generations to come to facilitate better access to public lands, to help increase outdoor recreation opportunities for cities and towns, and to help multigeneration ranchers and loggers maintain a working landscape,” the letter states. “These priorities have lingered for far too long. We urge you to take up S.47 in the full Senate at the earliest opportunity.”
“The package also includes provisions that strengthen our country’s outdoor heritage by enacting long-fought provisions of the bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act and includes many locally driven land conveyances, exchanges, and designations that help resolve land use challenges in our communities,” the letter also stated.
The public lands package also includes the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, which permanently withdraws approximately 30,000 acres of the Custer Gallatin National Forest from mineral entry in the Paradise Valley and Gardiner Basin. Daines has urged the withdrawal given strong local support. Daines has also actively worked with the administration to ensure the mineral withdrawal.
The letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Richard Burr (N.C.).
To read the full letter click HERE.