Cantwell Statement on 5th Anniversary of Great American Outdoors Act
Sen. Cantwell authored and championed this landmark bipartisan conservation legislation, which permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF); Cantwell also announces $2M LWCF grant to City of Longview for Cloney Park Playground project
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on the 5th anniversary of the signing of the Great American Outdoors Act, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, released the following statement:
“Five years ago, Congress overwhelmingly passed, and President Trump signed into law, the Great American Outdoors Act which was the most significant land conservation and outdoor recreation bill in half a century,” said Sen. Cantwell. “I led the fight with others to write and pass this law, which permanently and fully funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund and invested billions to address long overdue public land maintenance backlogs throughout the State of Washington and around the country. Here in Washington, the law has helped us preserve and expand outdoor recreation opportunities and wildlife habitat in the Central Cascades Forest, Mount St. Helens Forest, and the Yakima Basin watershed. The law is clear that these funds can only be used for continuing to protect, expand, and maintain America’s beloved public lands and natural heritage for the enjoyment of Americans today and for generations to come.”
Sen. Cantwell also announced that the City of Longview will receive a $2,000,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant to build a new one-acre, destination playground at Cloney Park. More information about the Cloney Park project can be found below.
The Great American Outdoors Act fully, permanently funded the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and invested billions of dollars to address the maintenance backlog on public lands throughout Washington state and around the country. The Senate passed the legislation, which Cantwell helped introduce, on June 17, 2020, by a vote of 73-25, and the House of Representatives passed the legislation on July 22, 2020, by a vote of 310-107.
The Great American Outdoors Act permanently funded the LWCF at its full authorization level of $900 million per year – roughly two or three times the amount the fund has historically received. Because the funding comes from offshore oil and gas royalties, it will not cost taxpayers a dime or add to the national deficit.
In addition to fully funding the LWCF, the legislation also invested $9.5 billion in long-overdue maintenance projects on federal public lands throughout the country.
Sen. Cantwell is a fierce advocate for protecting and maintaining our treasured public lands. In January, at current U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum’s confirmation hearing, she grilled the then-nominee on his commitment to protecting public lands.
At a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on June 11, Sen. Cantwell pressed Sec. Burgum on President Donald Trump’s alarming budget proposal for the Department of the Interior (DOI) that directly contradicts the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act and the Great American Outdoors Act.
Later that month Sen. Cantwell was a leading Senate voice in pushing back against Republican plans to force the sale of millions of acres of public lands.
Washington state has a deep connection with the LWCF. Senator “Scoop” Jackson created the LWCF in 1965 to help ensure Americans would continue to have open spaces and outdoor recreation opportunities as the country rapidly urbanized. Since its creation, the LWCF has supported more than 42,000 projects to fulfill that vision in communities throughout the country, including investing more than $725 million in more than 700 projects throughout Washington state. It also helps support the American outdoor recreation economy, which generates $887 billion in consumer spending every year and supports 7.6 million jobs nationwide. In Washington state alone, outdoor recreation creates $26 billion in annual spending, supports over 200,000 jobs, and generates $7.6 billion in wages and salaries.
Senator Cantwell has long fought to protect and strengthen the LWCF. When the fund’s authorization expired in 2015 for the first time in its 50-year history, Cantwell successfully led the fight to reauthorize the fund for three years despite strong opposition from leaders in the House of Representatives. In 2019, Cantwell’s legislation to permanently reauthorize the fund was signed into law as part of her bipartisan public lands package. She has also introduced legislation and led the fight to ensure the LWCF gets the full funding authorized to it.
Cloney Park LWCF Grant Information:
The new Cloney Park Playground will pay homage to Longview's industrial timber heritage and the culture of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. Five schools and more than 1,800 homes are within a half-mile of Cloney Park, making it an ideal place to create new outdoor recreation opportunities for kids.
The City’s design for the playground was completed in partnership with the Tribe, and includes culturally significant features such as a Cowlitz-inspired canoe and gathering shelter, log pile climbing structures, and a Mount St. Helens-inspired accessible hillside that encourages exploration and discovery. Planned play features include a sculptural table saw, stump forts, rope elements, a water and boulder area, and spiraling accessible paths.
“Not everyone can get out to nature, so we’ve bought nature to Longview,” said Jennifer Wills, City Manager of Longview. “Cloney Park isn’t just new - it’s reimagined. Our community has been asking for something like this for a long time, and we’re proud to finally deliver a space that reflects both where we’ve been and where we’re going. It’s a park for any body, which means it’s a park for every body. Big projects like this take time, but the vision never wavered. This is what happens when we listen, believe in the mission, stay on the path, and build something truly meaningful together.”
The $2,000,000 grant awarded to the City of Longview comes from the LWCF State & Local Assistance Program, which provides matching grants for local and state park projects. These grants help build and protect a “seamless system of parks” from back-yard to back-country.
The City of Longview expects to break ground on Cloney Park Playground in early 2026.
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