Land and Water Conservation Fund Support Praised

Senator Schumer Announces Full Support

BABYLON, NY (07/26/2010)(readMedia)-- New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Carol Ash praised Senator Charles Schumer for his full support of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, in which New York State will receive more than $20 million annually for various local projects.

"I applaud Senator Schumer for his commitment to a fully funded Land and Water Conservation Fund," Ash said. "Robust federal funding for LWCF would give New York help to address its $650 million backlog of capital needs and provide a high quality, safe and accessible state park system for the 56 million people who visit each year."

The United States' Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a Federal program that was established by Act of Congress in 1964, to provide monies and matching grants to federal, state and local governments for the acquisition of land and water, and easements on land and water, for the benefit of all Americans. The main emphases of the fund are recreation and the protection of national natural treasures in the forms of parks and protected forest and wildlife areas. Though LWCF is authorized at a budget cap of $900 million annually, this level has been met only twice during the program's nearly four decades. New York is currently slated to receive less than $2 million from the fund this year.

In Congress, these projects go through an Appropriations Committee review process. Given the intense competition among projects, funding is generally only provided for those projects with universal support.

Examples of Long Island State Park improvement projects include:

  • Jones Beach State Park- Rehabilitate the historic East and West Bathhouses and the Central Mall Area, as well as the West Bathhouse Pool.
  • Robert Moses State Park- Dredge the State Boat Channel to make it safely navigable and undertake a beach sand nourishment and restoration project.
  • Heckscher State Park- Rehabilitate the swimming pool, bathhouse and park roadways.
  • Sunken Meadow State Park-Rehabilitate the historic main beach building and swimming beach area. Make improvements to the golf course and clubhouse.
  • Gilgo Beach State Park-Implement a beach sand nourishment and restoration project to protect the Ocean Parkway.
  • Bethpage State Park-Replace the antiquated golf course irrigation system and rehabilitate park roadways.
  • Hempstead Lake State Park-Renovate park facilities and the tennis courts.
  • Jamesport State Park-Develop public recreation facilities per the new park master plan.

The cost of completing these projects exceeds $75 million.