Senate version of outdoors act announced.

U.S. Sens. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced in late June legislation to create a $1.425 billion annual trust fund to conserve and restore coastal resources, provide Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) state assistance, fund the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program (UPARR), and aid wildlife resources. The bill is commonly known as the American Outdoors Act, and is similar to the House version that was introduced in early April called the Get Outdoors Act--a bi-partisan effort that would annually set aside $3.125 billion for capital investments in public recreation, parks and other conservation activities including UPARR and LWCF.

While both the House and Senate versions propose to allocate $450 million toward LWCF and $125 million toward UPARR, the bills differ in several ways, including the addition of other titles in the Senate version, such as the payment-in-lieu of taxes program (PILT) and a potentially controversial federal land acquisition component in the House version.

On July 20, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources heard testimony regarding the bill from advocates associated with NRPA, including The Conservation Fund and Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation. "Today, Sen. Alexander's bill implements one of the [President Reagan's Commission on Americans Outdoors'] top recommendations--to make the Land and Water Conservation Fund a dedicated trust to pay for land acquisition and for state and local facility development and rehabilitation," said Charles Jordan, chairman of The Conservation Fund. "Mr. Chairman, at a time of international uncertainty and threats to our security at home, Americans need places in their neighborhood to escape from the stress of daily life more than ever."