Thanks to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for These Parks

The Land and Water Conservation Fund expired Thursday at midnight. The fund helped create parks in all 50 states, including many national wildlife refuges, forests, rivers, community parks, and trails. The fund, created by Congress in 1965 to buy land for public use and protect these areas, uses revenues from offshore drilling of oil and gas to conserve land and water. Every year $900 million in royalties were paid by energy companies on the outer continental shelf. However, each year, Congress diverts much of this funding to other uses. Currently, the overall federal land acquisition needs are backlogged by more than $30 billion. There was bipartisan support for permanent or continued funding of the LWCF, but Congress allowed it to lapse on Oct. 1. These developments leave lands unprotected that could have been purchased for the public and protected from private development. Here are some of the beautiful lanscapes in areas that have been protected and funded in whole or in part by LWCF over the past 50 years.