OPEN MIC, published in The Miami Herald, July 16, 2020
In late June, the U.S. Senate approved the Great American Outdoors Act by a vote of 73-25, providing permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Now the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to take up parallel legislation on July 22. Join the call to action and send your Congressional representative a note urging a Yes vote.
This legislation is important and needs your support. The LWCF, signed into law in 1965, has funded over 42,000 park and outdoor recreation projects nationally. Funded by oil and gas revenues — not taxpayers — the LWCF was originally designated for parks and outdoor recreation. And yet, over the years, Congress shortchanged the parks, failing to release billions of dollars that should have gone to parks.
This new legislation fixes that problem by making LWCF funding permanent. As board members of the National Recreation and Parks Association, we see ample evidence of the significant contributions parks make to communities. A strong park system with ample green space and diverse programs supports a healthy, vital and resilient city. We also see that not all parks are equal, and neither is access to parks. We need to fix this.
If we didn’t realize it earlier, the pandemic has surely shown us the importance of parks in our lives. Providing green space, fresh air and sunlight, the parks and the parks professionals who keep our parks going demonstrate the essential role of parks in bringing our communities and families together, helping our people get and stay healthy, enhancing the lifestyle that enables our businesses and institutions recruit and retain talent, and serving as the memorable and profound landmarks of our civic identity.
We need the House of Representatives to act. We hope that you will contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to quickly pass the Great American Outdoors Act to ensure a greener and healthier Miami, South Florida, and USA for today and generations to come.
Victor Dover FAICP, Dover, Kohl & Partners; Vice-President, Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade
Joanna Lombard, Professor, University of Miami Schools of Architecture and Medicine
Jack Kardys, Board Chair, NRPA; Former Director, Miami-Dade PROS
Jose Felix Diaz, Ballard Partners; Former Member, Florida House of Representatives