The Many Faces of LWCF | Biking PGH to DC

OIA's Audio Outdoorist

This episode is the third in a series about the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), America’s premier federal program that reinvests offshore energy revenue into conservation to ensure that we all have access to the outdoors. Congress created the LWCF almost a half-century ago to guarantee America’s natural, historic and outdoor recreation heritage. Most likely, there’s a park, trail, greenway or waterway very close to you that was funded in part or in whole by LWCF dollars.

In this episode, host Ben Schenck discovers that not only can he see the impacts of LWCF out his window, he can actually bike all the way from his home in Pittsburgh to our nation’s capitol on a series of trails that were connected thanks to LWCF dollars. Travel along with Ben as he rides more than 300 miles and learns about the history of the trail system. Along the way he meets other outdoorists who are thru-biking or section-biking and -hiking the Great Allegheny Passage Trail and the C&O Canal Towpath.

On September 30 of this year, Congress let LWCF expire, so at the time of this recording in November, our public lands and waters have lost over $100 million dollars in potential funding. Encourage your member of Congress to reauthorize LWCF before the end of this year. Visit outdoorindusty.org/lwcf to learn about the fund, to see a map of projects across the country that are funded by LWCF and to find our social media toolkit. Then Tweet or tag your lawmakers in D.C. Tell them why LWCF is important to you and your community. Make sure they know what you—and they—stand to lose if they don’t reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.