The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Coalition applauds the Department of the Interior’s announcement allocating $46.7 million in funding to support the revitalization and creation of new local parks in 10 communities across the United States, including Tucson, Arizona; Porterville, California; Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Missouri; New Brunswick, New Jersey, Garner and Raleigh, North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; and Houston, Texas.
These communities are poised to benefit from these substantial investments that will increase outdoor recreation opportunities and improve mental and physical health for locals, recreationists, and others in communities that are currently underserved.
This commitment, made possible through the LWCF-funded Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program, continues the Department of the Interior's commitment to improve access to the outdoors for everyone, regardless of where they live or what their means are. Today’s announcement is a substantial investment and one of the larger ones since the inception of the ORLP program targeting underserved communities.
Lesley Kane Szynal, Chair of the LWCF Coalition, said, "The Department of the Interior's efforts to build more and improve parks in underserved communities across the nation is a commitment to equity in action. The LWCF Coalition applauds this investment made possible by the LWCF-funded Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program, bringing quality and safe parks to the residents in these communities across the country. We look forward to seeing the projects completed so that more people have close-to-home access to the outdoors, and remain committed to our work with the Department of the Interior and local community leaders nationwide to identify even more essential projects like these.
"Further, we urge Congress to act now to pass the Outdoors for All Act, which will codify ORLP and make the program more inclusive by providing easier access to funding for Tribes, economically disadvantaged municipalities, and smaller communities. This critical legislation is part of the EXPLORE Act which passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is currently awaiting action in the Senate."