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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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IL Public Lands Stand to Benefit from Historic Bill

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Thursday, February 21, 2019   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Congress is considering a historic bill that could ensure the future protection of natural areas throughout Illinois.

Historic sites, wildlife reserves, beaches and community parks are among the more than 700 outdoor areas in the state that have benefited from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The program expired in September, but could be reauthorized permanently as part of the Natural Resources Management Act.

Maite Arce, president and CEO of the Hispanic Access Foundation, says public lands are a key component of the American identity.

"They are places that not only preserve our shared cultural heritage and provide access to recreate but it also provides millions of jobs,” she states. “And it often provides the only means to experience the outdoors because this program supports local and municipal parks and projects."

Over the past 50 years, Illinois has received about $213 million from the program, which is funded from offshore oil and gas revenues.

The Senate passed the Natural Resources Management Act with overwhelming bipartisan support and the act could be voted on by the House as early as next week.

With outdoor recreation generating nearly $26 billion in consumer spending each year in Illinois, Land Tawney, president and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, contends that public lands are a major economic driver that's available to everyone.

"In this conversation about jobs, jobs, jobs and the economy, this is one of the most solid things that we can put our investments behind, which is our public lands and our public waters," he stresses.

Tracy Stone-Manning, vice president for public lands with the National Wildlife Federation, says the group’s polling shows three-in-four Americans want permanent reauthorization and full support for the program. She says she's pleased to see lawmakers are listening.

"In a time when our country is so divided, this one issue – the ability to bring people together around public lands, around protection of our wildlife – has punched through as something that is so uniquely and beautifully American that it has brought the Senate together and we're hoping it does the House as well," she states.

The bill includes support for many other natural areas, including expansion of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area and the designation of Route 66 as a National Historic Trail.


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