Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa praised the passing of measures permanently reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and dedicating new funding to National Park Service maintenance that cleared the House Natural Resources Committee.

On Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R.502 – To permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund and H.R.6510 – Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act. Congresswoman Hanabusa is an original co-sponsor of H.R. 6510 and co-sponsor of H.R 502.

“The permanent reauthorization of the LWCF is an important part of protecting our nation’s natural treasures,” said Congresswoman Hanabusa. “Over the past 50 years, about $249 million from the LWCF has been used to preserve and protect the Hawai‘i Volcanoes and Haleakala National Parks, James Campbell and Hakalau National Wildlife Refuges, and the Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park. This fund encourages and supports active, outdoor recreation in Hawai‘i, benefitting our economy, residents and visitors. This bipartisan agreement will help address the severe maintenance backlog that is hampering operations at too many of our national parks. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, Hawai‘i has a backlog at nine National Park Service units totaling $152.9 million. I urge my colleagues to continue the spirit of bipartisanship that forged these compromises and quickly pass these important measures.”