Access digital copies of guides and regulations publications from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Issue link: http://digital.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1539544
10 2025–2030 SCORP INTRODUCTION History of LWCF In 1961, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission reported key elements for an effort to make outdoor recreation opportunities available to the public. Based largely on the major recommendations, President Kennedy proposed legislation in February 1962 that would establish a "Land and Water Conservation Fund," to assist states in planning, acquisition, and development of recreation resources and to finance new federal recreation lands. With bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress, the bill was passed and signed into law on September 3, 1964, as Public Law 88-578, 16 U.S.C. 460/-4. The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 was created with the following purpose: "The purposes of this part are to assist in preserving, developing, and assuring accessibility to all citizens of the United States of America of present and future generations and visitors who are lawfully present within the boundaries of the United States of America such quality and quantity of outdoor recreation resources as may be available and are necessary and desirable for individual active participation in such recreation and to strengthen the health and vitality of the citizens of the United States by: (1) providing funds for and authorizing Federal assistance to the States in planning, acquisition, and development of needed land and water areas and facilities and; (2) providing funds for the Federal acquisition and development of certain lands and other areas." The fund does not receive tax revenue but instead invests earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing back into the outdoor recreation landscape. The Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), passed in 2020, permanently authorized funding for LWCF. Ensuring the grant assisted sites are held permanently for outdoor recreation is a legacy of the stateside assistance program. Section 6(f)(3) of the LWCF Act requires all grant-assisted areas be maintained perpetually in public outdoor recreation use or be replaced by lands of equal market value and recreational usefulness. This section of the LWCF Act guarantees the permanency of and access to outdoor recreation sites across the country for future generations. LWCF in Nebraska The Land and Water Conservation Fund State Assistance Program has provided funding in Nebraska since the program's inception. Federal contributions of over $60 million have assisted outdoor recreation projects that were matched by state and local sponsors. Sponsors are required to provide at least a 50% match of the total project cost, which has resulted in well over $120 million being invested in outdoor recreation projects in Nebraska. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has been designated by the Nebraska Legislature to carry out the purpose and objectives of the LWCF Act on behalf of the State. Per Section §37-906, "Forty percent of the federal funds annually allocated to the State of Nebraska are hereby reallocated to state projects and sixty percent to the projects of political subdivisions." Annual funding requests are ranked by an internal Game and Parks scoring committee using the Open Project Selection Process (OPSP) approved by the National Park Service. Staff recommendations are forwarded to the Game and Parks Board of Commissioners for approval to allocate the federal funds. Approved projects are sent to the National Parks Service for final approval and grant agreements are put into place. As of 2025, LWCF funds have been invested in 89 of Nebraska's 93 counties. The Open Project Section Process (OPSP) performs two essential functions: establish processes that assure equitable opportunities for all eligible applicants and provide objective criteria and standards for project selection explicitly based on Nebraska's priorities identified in the SCORP. DRAF T