Maine's voice for community parks and recreation
Welcome to MRPA: May 17, 2012
MRPA members work year-round to increase recreational opportunities and promote a healthy lifestyle for Maine citizens of all ages. We do this by supporting the professionals who deliver Maine's public park and recreation programs, and by serving as a statewide voice for access to public recreation and open space. We welcome you as a member.
Senators Snowe and Collins lead bi-partisan effort to restore LWCF to historic levels
Senator Snowe co-authors letter endorsing $700 million for LWCF through FY 2013 Transportation Reauthorization Bill
MRPA's delegation to the 2012 National Recreation and Park Association Legislative Forum met with Senator Snowe at her office on March 28, 2012. Left to right, Executive Director Matt Howe, Board President Lucky D'Ascanio; Senator Snowe; Legislative Committee Chair Cindy Hazelton; and USTA New England field officer Eric Driscoll.Maine's Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are leading a broad-based effort to restore funding to the Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). When Congress created the LWCF in 1964, it called for $900 Million annually to be raised from offshore drilling royalties and dedicated toward land conservation and public recreation resources. Over the years, politics and budget shortfalls have eroded LWCF appropriations to the point where only $45 million was available for "stateside" funding in 2012, resulting in less than $200,000 for Maine projects.
While the road ahead is uncertain, there's new hope for LWCF in the Senate's surface transportation reauthorization bill (S.1813), which includes a provision to restore the LWCF appropriation to $700 million in FY 13 and thus grow the "stateside" allotment by hundreds of millions of dollars. We will keep you posted in the weeks ahead on how House-Senate negotiations are progressing and how our voices can have an impact (Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Mike Michaud are also strongly behind the House version of the bill).
