President Trump’s fiscal 2020 budget recommends essentially zeroing out the beloved Land and Water Conservation Fund — a program that he will permanently reauthorize today in a much-anticipated White House signing ceremony for the broad public lands package. ( Ed. note.. Same budget as last year.. so we had anticipated this.. fyi )

The budget request would provide roughly $8 million in new funding for LWCF, but it also recommends a $31 million rescission from already appropriated funds.

That translates into a proposed clawback of about $23.45 million, which ultimately means a less-than-zero administration proposal for the 54-year-old land and water conservation program in fiscal 2020.

The omnibus spending bill that Trump signed into law last month gave LWCF $435 million for fiscal 2019.

“Just weeks ago, Congress overwhelmingly voted to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and today the president virtually eliminated LWCF,” said Kathy DeCoster, vice president and director of federal affairs for the Trust for Public Land.

The Trump proposal is included in Interior’s Appendix D fiscal 2020 documents, posted on its website.

Congress passed a massive public lands package in February that permanently reauthorizes LWCF, a major win for its supporters (E&E Daily, Feb. 27).

LWCF uses revenue from offshore oil and gas drilling primarily to preserve and maintain the nation’s parks, forests, recreation areas and cultural sites. It’s a favorite of many members of Congress because it’s a program that doesn’t use taxpayer dollars and is popular with constituents across the country.

“We’ll work with both Republicans and Democrats to ensure that the Land and Water Conservation Fund is fully funded by Congress,” DeCoster said after the fiscal 2020 request was unveiled.

The authorized funding level is $900 million, but it’s hardly ever been funded at that level; its annual appropriations in recent years have typically been about half that, which squares with what Congress gave it for fiscal 2019.

Trump is expected to sign the public lands package, S. 47, into law early this afternoon, along with a few lawmakers, including Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).

Bishop and Cantwell were two of the main architects of the package, along with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

Murkowski, who spoke at an energy conference in Texas earlier this week, will be back for the ceremony today.

Cantwell and Daines told E&E News last night they planned to go to the signing ceremony today.

When told about the proposed cuts to LWCF in the president’s fiscal 2020 budget recommendation, Cantwell said the detail “gives me something extra to talk about” at the ceremony.

Asked last night whether he planned to ask the president about the proposed LWCF cuts for next fiscal year, Daines chuckled.

“There will be plenty of things to talk about in the budget, but we are going to have a celebration tomorrow,” Daines said last night. “Because it’s permanently reauthorized, you know.”