Bridal Veil Falls Trail

October 06, 2015Ryan Pennington

A friend recently sent me a Seattle Times article from which I learned that Land and Water Conservation Fund—a "bipartisan commitment to safeguard natural areas, water resources and our cultural heritage, and to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans"—not only funds multiple trails and parks throughout the state, but throughout all 50 states.

“Though it’s one of the few government programs that still has broad bipartisan support, the park fund was killed this week by one person — Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, who took over this year as chairman of the House’s Natural Resources Committee.”

— Dan Westneat, Seattle Times

According to the LWCF's website, it is funded not by tax-payer dollars but by offshore oil and gas drilling revenues on public lands. It costs us as citizens nothing, but Rep. Rob Bishop as head of the House Natural Resources Committee didn't even let it come before the committee. As Dan Westneat of the Seattle Times said, "They killed it quietly, without a vote."

Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address said that "Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the Earth." With government shutdowns looming on what seems like a consistent basis, it seems as though the government's ability to function is regularly held hostage. The state of discourse in the US government is beyond frustrating. It makes me question just whom it really serves.