First State Grants-in-Aid Apportionment Under Land and Water Conservation Fund Act

Allocations of nearly $10 million in recreation grants-in-aid for which States and territories may apply under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act were announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

The grants-in-aid allocations are the first announced under the new Act. To take advantage of the allocations, States or territories must match them in equal amounts. The money can be used for planning, acquiring, and developing outdoor recreation areas and facilities for public use.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund derives its revenues from sale of the new $7 Federal Recreation/Conservation Sticker, other Federal outdoor recreation fees, the Federal motorboat fuels tax, and proceeds from the sale of Federal surplus real property.

"These grants-in-aid mark an important day in the annals of conservation," Secretary Udall declared. "Money which Congress has appropriated for this purpose will help the Nation meet its increasing demands for outdoor recreation opportunities.”

Apportionments from the Fund to the States and territories is based on 40 percent of the amount available being divided equally among the States and the rest on population, Federal resources and programs, and other factors.

Under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act; States may request money for comprehensive outdoor recreation planning needed to qualify for. acquisition and development grants. After such plans have been accepted, States must submit proposals for individual projects before grants-in-aid are actually made for the acquisition and development.

Allocations announced by Secretary Udall today are from $16,000,000 appropriated by the Congress for the fiscal year which ends June 30, 1965. Of this amount, $10,375,000 is available for State recreation purposes, the remainder for Federal purposes.

Approximately one million dollars of the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been retained by the Department of the Interior as a State contingency reserve.

The allocations will remain available to the States for qualifying projects through June 30, 1967. The President's 1966 budget requests appropriations of $75 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for State outdoor recreation projects. Congress has not completed action on that request.

The money available currently has been apportioned among the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States, as follows: