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RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO RESTORE FUNDING TO THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND STATE AND LOCAL GRANT PROGRAM TO $125 MILLION FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008-09

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WHEREAS the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provides matching federal grants to states and local communities to develop outdoor recreation facilities, parks, and resources; and
WHEREAS, the need for funding these efforts stretches across the country, as the LWCF program has aided local projects in the vast majority of U.S. counties; and
WHEREAS, LWCF is considered one of the most successful partnership programs in the history of the Department of Interior; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Park Service, the "LWCF grant program has been successful in encouraging states to take greater responsibility for the protection and development of recreation resources at every level;" and
WHEREAS, between 2002 and 2005, the White House requested and Congress appropriated between $89 million and $140 million per year for the LWCF state and local program; and
WHEREAS, between 2006 and 2008, funding has dropped to an average of $27 million annually, and the President's proposed FY 2008-09 budget eliminates LWCF funding entirely; and
WHEREAS, with the LWCF program being substantially underfunded the past three years, the unmet need in every state has escalated; and
WHEREAS, in the 2007 Annual Report on the LWCF state assistance program, the National Park Service reported that states estimated their unmet need for outdoor recreation facilities and parkland acquisition at $15.6 billion; and
WHEREAS, since its inception in 1965, the LWCF program has funded over 41,000 sports fields, recreation facilities, and natural parks, including the purchase and protection of 3 million acres of land and green space; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County Parks Department has received $500,000 in grant funds from LWCF, and would apply for additional monies for urban renewal projects at parks and for acquisition of green space,
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Respectfully requests that the U.S. Congress restore funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) state and local grant program to $125 million for Fiscal Year 2008-09.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit certified copies of the resolution to the Chair and Members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; the Chair and Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; and the members of the Florida Congressional Delegation.
Section 3. Directs the County's federal lobbyists to advocate for the passage of the legislation set forth in Section 1 above, and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to include this item in the 2008 and 2009 Federal Legislative Packages.