A bipartisan group of 150 lawmakers is urging House appropriators to provide strong and steady funding for federal lands agencies to acquire new lands, connect wildlife habitats and improve opportunities for recreation.

The lawmakers, including 15 Republicans, said continued federal investment in the Land and Water Conservation Fund is critical to protecting drinking water, providing hunting and fishing access and preventing lands from being sold into development.

"As you begin drafting the [fiscal] 2012 Interior and environment appropriations bill, we request robust and consistent funding for LWCF," the group said in a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the Interior Department and Forest Service appropriations panel. "This much-needed funding will support public land conservation across our communities that increases access to outdoor recreation while revitalizing urban parks and open space."

The group is led by Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson of California, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and G.K. Butterfield and Heath Shuler of North Carolina and Republicans Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania and Charles Bass of New Hampshire.

In their letter, the lawmakers touted the importance of the fund's state-side grants, which assist local governments in providing access to nearby state and local parks, recreation facilities and trail corridors.

"In these very difficult times, we believe LWCF investments are essential investments that will yield important economic benefits to local communities now and into the future," the lawmakers wrote, citing data that hunters and fishermen support close to a million jobs and pay $6 billion in federal and state taxes.

But LWCF supporters face an uphill battle maintaining funding for the 46-year-old program as Congress seeks additional spending cuts amid rising deficits.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), chairman of the House panel that funds lands agencies, last night told E&E Daily that LWCF would likely see big cuts in the House's fiscal 2012 funding bill.

A GOP spending proposal would force Simpson to slash $2 billion in Interior and U.S. EPA spending in the next fiscal year as part of a sweeping plan to cut $30 billion from current spending (E&E Daily, May 12).

"We just don't have the money," he said, adding that he did not know how much would be cut from LWCF.

"We're not eliminating the program. But there will be some significant cuts," he said. "There has to be."

The House-passed continuing resolution in February to keep the government running for the rest of fiscal 2011 proposed slashing the fund to less than $60 million, just a fraction of its authorized annual level of $900 million.

A bipartisan budget deal in April funded LWCF at $301 million, a $149 million cut below current levels but $244 million above the House proposal.

Simpson in March suggested some of the Obama administration's requested funding for land acquisition in 2012 would need to be funneled to construction to address Interior's roughly $20-billion maintenance backlog (E&E Daily, March 10).

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), the ranking member on the Senate Interior and EPA appropriations panel, has also expressed concerns that the federal government has neither the money nor the management capacity to enlarge the federal estate.

But proponents argue LWCF investments help agencies save on management costs by consolidating lands, reducing fire risks and preventing incompatible development. Much of the fund is used to help private forest and ranch owners keep their lands open.

The Obama administration requested $900 million -- the fund's maximum amount -- in its fiscal 2012 budget request and said LWCF is a critical component of its Great Outdoors initiative to connect Americans to the outdoors.

"Our plan will restore and increase recreational access to public lands and waterways, bolster rural landscapes, including working farms and ranches [and] develop the next generation of urban parks and community green spaces," President Obama said in a proclamation yesterday in recognition of Great Outdoors month.

Click here to read the letter.

Reporter Manuel Quinones contributed.