On Sept. 30, a vital source of funding for Minnesota’s public lands expired. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has provided over $245 million to Minnesota’s parks and public lands, taking the burden off of Minnesota’s taxpayers. The LWCF takes revenue from offshore oil drilling and invests it in the shared spaces that help make Minnesota special.
A piece of the fund was set aside to complete a Boundary Waters land swap — that swap would provided better protection for the still-patchwork Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness while providing direct property tax relief for Minnesotans. Now that may never happen.
There is still time to revive the LWCF, though. We’re lucky to have supporters like Sen. Tina Smith helping push for LWCF, but we need Rep. Erik Paulsen’s support as well. Ask federal politicians if they know what the fund is — and whether or not they want to revive it.
Molly Muth, Minneapolis
Lakeshore Weekly News, November 23, 2018