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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Environmental Advocates Laud Land Conservation Deal

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Monday, July 27, 2015   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California environmental groups are cheering a bipartisan deal announced last Wednesday in the U.S. Senate to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The 50-year-old program diverts a small part of revenues from oil and gas projects to help agencies acquire land for recreation areas and maintain the country's natural beauty.

Megan Wargo, director of land protection with the Pacific Crest Trail Association, says the program has allowed her group to prevent private development along large stretches of the trail.

"We've seen about $25 million worth of investment from the program in the last 15 years,” she states. “And that investment has acquired about 17,000 acres along the trail. "

Since its inception in 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has pumped $2 billion into California's scenic areas, including the Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Dume State Beach in Malibu.

Wargo says the program also funds dozens of local projects such as parks and ball fields. But time is running out to get the deal into a piece of legislation.

"So it is very possible that we may not get the program reauthorized before that Sept. 30th deadline if it doesn't get attached to some sort of bill that's moving forward for a vote," she says.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition says outdoor recreation, conservation and historic preservation activities contribute more than $1 trillion to the U.S. economy each year and support 9.4 million jobs.





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