skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk's DOGE over data NYers brace for effects of higher bank fees, dismantling CFPB; Top Russian and US officials discuss improving ties and ending the Ukraine war without Kyiv; Closure of EPA branch predicted to affect MS environment; CT paraeducators organize to get a living wage.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

On a Middle East visit, Sen. Richard Blumenthal rejects a Gaza takeover. President's Day protests erupt around the country against White House moves, and another aviation accident draws attention to recent FAA cuts.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation, and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

Major Conservation Legislation to Fund Important, Little-Known Program

play audio
Play

Tuesday, August 4, 2020   

BOISE, Idaho -- In a major victory for conservation, President Donald Trump is slated to sign the Great American Outdoors Act today. Included in the legislation is a little-known but key program called the Land and Water Conservation Fund that is used for everything from improving access to public lands to funding city parks.

Kari Kostka, director of external affairs at The Nature Conservancy of Idaho, said the program will receive its full funding of $900 million annually.

"Passage of this bill is truly a historic and monumental win for conservation and has a lot of people very excited," Kostka said.

She said the fund regularly does not get full funding. In 2019, for example, it received $495 million of the $900 million it was supposed to get. Funds are collected from offshore oil and gas drilling revenue.

Idaho has received nearly $290 million over the past 50 years from the program, according to the LWCF Coalition.

Jeff Cartwright works with LWCF as the acquisition and withdrawal program lead for the Bureau of Land Management's Idaho state office. He said there are many examples of LWCF-funded projects across the state, including conservation easements on the Salmon and Snake rivers to keep those places pristine.

He also pointed to the Blackwell Island Recreation Site outside of Coeur d'Alene.

"We basically turned a parcel of bare land and now it's a massive recreation site with over 40,000 annual visitors, a four-lane boat launch, 130-vehicle trailer parking, shelters for people to rent out and have parties and picnics at," Cartwright said.

Kostka said Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson played an outsized role in getting this bipartisan bill passed.

"Congressman Simpson has long been a champion of Idaho's outdoor and natural places and was a lead co-sponsor for the Great American Outdoors Act in the U.S. House of Representatives," Kostka said.

With the president's signature, additional funding for conservation projects will become available in Idaho and across the country soon.

Disclosure: The Nature Conservancy of Idaho contributes to our fund for reporting on Environment. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
AARP Community Challenge grants have helped launch community gardens, which help improve livability for residents in a number of ways. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

AARP Colorado is accepting applications from nonprofits and local governments across the state for this year's Community Challenge grant program…


Health and Wellness

play sound

Town hall meetings start tonight across California, pushing back against congressional Republicans' proposal to cut hundreds of billions of dollars …

Social Issues

play sound

Worker's rights advocates and nursing home providers say Washington has a long-term care workforce crisis, and that inadequate benefits in the …


ALICE data from the United Way found between 2019-2022, the median hourly wage for teaching assistants in Connecticut was $23.38. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Connecticut union organizers are working to get pension plans for paraeducators. In recent years, they have won a flurry of benefits from organizing …

Social Issues

play sound

Some New York members of Congress are trying to repeal bank overdraft fee regulations. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created a rule …

Women, young adults and those with a family history of depression tend to experience seasonal affective disorder at higher rates. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

If the cold weather and snow have got you down and feeling like there's no end in sight, you are not alone. Nationwide, up to 6% of the population …

Health and Wellness

play sound

New legislation backed by the American Heart Association would require all Oregon schools to have cardiac emergency response plans in place. …

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Tim Spears for WISH-TV.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Col…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021