After more than 50 years, authorization for the Land and Water Conservation Fund expired on September 30. LWCF utilizes revenues from the development of offshore oil and gas for use to conserve lands and provide outdoor recreation opportunities. The Fund has played an important role in conserving a number of landscapes within national parks, forests and other federal lands across the country. In addition, a portion of funds have been used for state and local parks and recreation programs in every county in the nation.

Congress failed to enact legislation that would either extend existing authorization or reauthorize LWCF before the September 30 deadline due to concerns from some western members of Congress about additional federal land acquisition and lack of funding for maintenance. However, proponents believe that LWCF has been valuable to protect vital landscapes and consolidate inholdings within existing federal lands. These groups argue that plans to direct spending for maintenance or prescriptive funding levels for state programs would significantly impact the flexibility within the program.

Legislation has been introduced to permanently reauthorize the program and mandate full funding, however these bills have not seen any legislative action. Some of the members of Congress holding up movement on LWCF, including Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Rob Bishop, are planning to introduce legislation that "modernizes" the law; however, that legislation has not yet been made public. During the Committee's October 8 debate and vote on the Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act of 2015, an amendment to permanently reauthorize the program failed by a vote of 16-22.