EMMAUS, Pa. — More than four decades ago, a federal program made it possible to preserve 42 acres of woodland on South Mountain for residents to hike, bike and explore.
That property still is there, but over the years, its's expanded — connecting Allentown’s Reservoir Park to Wildlands Conservancy’s South Mountain Preserve, making up the 750-acre Robert Rodale Reserve.
“There are so many areas that we have been able to preserve throughout our community for conservation, natural resources and also the beauty of the scenic natural habitat,” U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, said.
“But at the same time, we know that this is an ongoing thing that we want to continue to do in our local community. It takes money to not only fund these projects, but also maintain and upkeep projects like this.”
Mackenzie, along with officials from Wildlands, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, on Wednesday morning hiked a portion of the property, lauding the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund that helped preserve that 42-acre section.
“Funding sources like the Land and Water Conservation Fund have been really critical for Wildlands and its partners to buy properties like this, protect them for their conservation, recreation and scenic values."Wildlands Conservancy President Christopher Kocher
And it’s not the only Valley land preserved through the program.
Since its inception in the mid-1960s, the LWCF has provided more than $15 million to support nearly 200 projects throughout the commonwealth’s 7th district, which includes Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties, and a sliver of Monroe County.
“It's a very unique habitat,” Wildlands president Christopher Kocher said. “This is part of the Pennsylvania Highlands, which is ecologically really important, and it covers about a four-state area.
“And funding sources like the Land and Water Conservation Fund have been really critical for Wildlands and its partners to buy properties like this, protect them for their conservation, recreation and scenic values.
‘Want that permanent funding’
The Land and Water Conservation Fund was established in 1964 by Congress “to fulfill a bipartisan commitment to safeguard natural areas,” according to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the federal agency that oversees the program.
“There's essentially a large toolbox of different ways that the federal funding through the Land and Water Conservation Fund helps communities,” Mark Zakutansky, director of conservation policy engagement for the Appalachian Mountain Club, said.
“Parks and playgrounds like this are funded through the Land and Water Conservation Fund stateside program, so playground infrastructure would be funded through the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources with federal funding.
"Large landscape acquisitions are often funded through programs under the Fish & Wildlife Service, but the funding source is through the offshore oil and gas leasing revenue.”
Since 2009, there have been three projects in Northampton County and five Lehigh County projects to get funding through the program.
For decades, funding for the LWCF relied on annual congressional appropriations. However, in August 2020, President Donald Trump signed the Great American Outdoors Act into law, authorizing $900 million annually in permanent funding.
But future funding is uncertain.
“There has been discussion about making changes to that funding, which I disagree with,” Mackenzie said.
“I think we want that permanent funding going to land and water conservation funded programs, like we've seen over the past number of years, and we want to make sure that those things continue going forward.”
‘Betrayal of the values’
The Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposes diverting nearly $387 million from conservation projects. Then, in September, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an order critics said would jeopardize LWCF projects.
“Fortunately, the order does not include one of the administration’s worst ideas, leaving out its prior proposal to divert LWCF funding for unauthorized purposes,” Amy Lindholm, director of federal affairs, conservation funding at the Appalachian Mountain Club and a spokeswoman for the LWCF Coalition, said in a news release.
“Unfortunately, Secretarial Order 3442 still does real damage. It hinders critical conservation and public access by reviving previously rejected ideas, severely restricting Bureau of Land Management’s protection priorities for sportsmen and other outdoor recreationists, hamstringing LWCF land conservation tools, limiting private property owners’ rights to sell their land, and imposing new procedural roadblocks that will delay or derail urgently needed outdoor access and recreation projects.
“It’s not just a policy mistake — it’s a betrayal of the values that GAOA represents.”
Mackenzie said there are “a number” of legislators “advocating against those changes, [to] keep it the way it is and the way that Congress intended it to be from back in 2020 today.”
With the federal government shutdown now stretching 35 days, LehighValleyNews.com asked Mackenzie if the LWCF, like other federal programs, also is shuttered.
“I would say that that's probably accurate,” he said. “These are typically longer-term grants, so I don't know that there was any immediate funding held up.
“And so one more reason why we want to reopen the government and get everything moving again.”
