"National Park Funding From Oil And Gas Revenues Set To Expire Today"

"Some members of Congress allowed it to lapse because they want to change 50-year-old rules on how the money should be spent."

"Wednesday new funding runs dry for a program that has supported hundreds of parks around the country for 50 years.

Why? Because Rep. Rob Bishop (R) of Utah, who chairs the US House Committee on Natural Resources, wants to rewrite the law stipulating how the money can be spent.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund, launched in 1965, is funded by royalties from energy companies allowed to drill for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf, a section of seafloor owned by the federal government. Both parties have supported the program, which funds water and natural resources conservation, national parks like Gettysburg and Yosemite, state parks and historic sites, and popular recreational resources like the Appalachian Trail."

Lonnie Shekhtman reports for the Christian Science Monitor September 30, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Senators Eye Short-Term Fix for Conservation Fund" (The Hill)