IN SUPPORT OF THE LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND (LWCF) AND THE URBAN PARK AND RECREATION RECOVERY (UPARR) PROGRAM

            WHEREAS, the Interior Department’s Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) provides matching grants to States and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas and facilities, with the purpose of creating and maintaining a nationwide legacy of high-quality recreation areas and facilities and to stimulate non-federal investments in the protection and maintenance of recreation resources across the United States; and

            WHEREAS, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) program was established in November 1978, with substantial participation from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, to provide matching grants and technical assistance to economically distressed urban communities in order to rehabilitate critically needed recreation facilities; and

            WHEREAS, LWCF state assistance grants have provided over $3 billion in federal funds which have leveraged more than $7 billion on nonfederal matching funds to underwrite the development of more than 41,000 state and local park and recreation projects throughout the country; and

            WHEREAS, the UPARR program has assisted more than 1,500 sites and facilities in over 300 localities since its inception; and

            WHEREAS, enacted appropriations for LWCF have been unpredictable and the average annual appropriation since FY1987 has been about $40 million, while the UPARR program has received no federal funding since 2002; and

            WHEREAS, under the America’s Great Outdoors initiative for FY14, the Interior Department has proposed establishing dedicated mandatory funding for LWCF programs, with full funding at $900 million in 2015, and $600 million for LWCF programs in 2014, along with $10 million for a revitalized and refocused UPARR grant program,

            NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors supports fully funded LWCF and UPARR grant programs to ensure that states and local governments will continue to expand and upgrade their recreational infrastructure.