Advocacy update: legislative victories for NRPA: NRPA members' advocacy efforts paid off.

Last month, NRPA members, with the support of a national coalition of partners and other like-minded advocates, achieved two extremely important legislative victories: the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act in a new six-year bill known as SAFETEA-LU and the passage of the 2006 Interior Appropriations bill. While the amount of funding for these bills was paramount, there is also equal significance attached to the strength of the national coalition that was formed for each bill, and the national policy implications that will affect parks and recreation in the future.

In virtually all measures, the new transportation bill stacks up as one of NRPA's best legislative achievements of the past decade. What makes the achievement enormous for NRPA is that virtually every one of the goals identified in its 2005 Legislative Platform was reached.

SAFETEA-LU, properly named the "Safe, Accountable, Efficient Transportation Equity Act-a Legacy for Users," is a six-year reauthorization of the nation's surface transportation program. SAFETEA-LU follows the previous authorization for the surface transportation fund, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA21), and covers the six fiscal years FY 2005 through FY 2009. This omnibus bill includes spending authorizations for highway construction and mass transit, and also includes environmental policy and laws regulating the impacts of highway construction.

In SAFETEA-LU's final version, due to an extraordinary advocacy and education effort by NRPA members and coalition partners, park- and recreation-related spending categories were increased by hundreds of millions of dollars. More importantly, long-standing statutory protections for historic sites, park and recreation areas, wildlife refuges and waterfowl areas, known in the law as Section 4(f), were protected from encroachments by the powerful transportation lobbyist groups.

Section 4(f) ultimately was protected because an NRPA-led coalition of more than 20 national organizations representing more than 10 million people--who educated and informed legislators of its value and never gave up.

NRPA supported reasonable compromises to Section 4(f) from the beginning of legislative deliberations, but transportation industry groups pushed to remove critical parts of the statute that would have resulted in removing the most important language in the law. NRPA recognizes the tireless, visionary leadership of Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.) who stood firmly against efforts to seriously weaken this law. "You can be proud that you could make your voice be heard across America," he says at the closing session of the Rails to Trails Conservancy conference in Minneapolis, Minn., after the vote. "Don't stop; keep going."

Some highlights of authorizations for important park and recreation program categories in SAFETEA-LU include about $3.5 billion for Transportation Enhancements; $370 million for the Recreational Trails Program (an increase of 62 percent); full funding for the Sportfishing and Boating Safety Education Act; and increases for Scenic Byways, Federal Lands Highways Program, the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Program that contain funding for bike-pedestrian transportation corridors and other projects.

A number of exciting new programs have also been established that may hold many opportunities for park and recreation agencies and local communities such as the Safe Routes to School Program, which was funded at $612 million; a new non-motorized pilot demonstration program for four selected cities and counties (Minneapolis, Minn; Marin County, Calif.; Columbia, Mo.; and Sheboygan County, Wisconsin) at $25 million per year; and the new Transit in the Parks program for federal public lands at $24 million per year for four years.

On another legislative front, NRPA advocates were floored when they learned in February that the president proposed to terminate the Land and Water Conservation Fund state assistance program in his 2006 Interior Appropriations Bill. Shocked NRPA members and advocates picked themselves up and carried on the fight for LWCF to the halls of Congress.

Advocates for parks and recreation at the local, regional and state levels across the country, led by NRPA and its state affiliates, swung into action. Key members of the appropriations committees in the House and the Senate heard from constituents throughout their districts just how important this far-reaching program was to small towns, communities and states. When the Senate voted to approve a recommendation for $30 million for LWCF state assistance in the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee report, advocates were heartened, but it wasn't over. There still was a desperate fight waged to encourage the Appropriations Conference Committee to accede to the Senate number.

The final result was that the Senate funding level was accepted. Sen. Chairman Conrad Burns of Montana is owed a great vote of gratitude for his leadership and perseverance, as well as to Reps. James McGovern (D-Mass.), Rush Holt D-N.J.), Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.), Peter King (R-N.Y.), and Sens. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). However, the $30 million for LWCF state assistance is about one-third of the FY 2005 funding level.

NRPA members and advocates need to be aware that Congress seems to have lost touch with how important the stateside matching grants are from the LWCF. We need to re-educate the members of Congress on the true value of this program in every community that receives or applies for such a grant. Often times, the LWCF grant made the difference in whether a park or recreation area could be built and opened to the public. Also, NRPA members need to re-educate the president and his staff on the value of the state assistance program, which has been funded at an average of more than $100 million per year under his administration.

While the funding for LWCF is inadequate, NRPA members and advocates can take pride in their solid accomplishment of saving the program from certain elimination. The Land and Water Conservation Fund state assistance program will at least persevere, if not prosper, continuing to make matching grants to worthy state and local park and recreation projects across the country.

In the transportation bill, by contrast, there is an outstanding level of funding for bike, pedestrian and rail-trail projects, as well as other transportation enhancements and demonstration projects that park and recreation agencies in virtually every county in the nation are eligible. As important as the funding is the knowledge that the bonds of a strong nationwide coalition representing millions of citizens in partnership for parks and recreation and healthy lifestyles will continue to grow and strengthen. This is the true achievement and victory for NRPA and its advocates this year.

Richard J. Dolesh is the acting public policy director for NRPA's Public Policy Division in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].