Protecting Open Spaces Wilderness Society successful in fight for LWCF funds Washington, D.C. In 1999, The Wilderness Society was pleased to be part of a successful effort to convince Congress, for the first time in five years, to use some of the money in the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to help states and localities with open space protection and recreation projects. Each year LWCF receives $900 million in offshore oil and gas receipts, some of which can be parceled out, as 50-50 matching grants, to states and localities. More than 37,000 projects have benefited. This fiscal year $20 million will be put into 50-50 matching grants, with the hope to increase that amount in future years. In 2000, as part of their effort to build a nationwide network of wild lands-from neighborhood parks to vast Alaskan landscapes-they are hosting a wilderness conference September 22 and 23 in Estes Park, Colorado. There is resurgent interest across the country in protecting wilderness, and The Wilderness Society is committed to working with grassroots groups engaged in this effort while building bridges to new constituencies. One of their major goals is to add 200 million acres of our public lands to the 104 million acres now part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. For updated conference information log on at www.wilderness.org. For the first time in five years, money in the Land and Water Conservation Fund will be used to protect open spaces and recreation projects.