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U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet released separate statements this week supporting legislation that will permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund after the bill advanced out of committee.

Gardner sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and co-sponsored the Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act with Bennet. The two senators co-sponsored four pieces of legislation, including one that Bennet wrote on establishing a National Historic Trail in Colorado.

The Land and Water Conservation Authorization and Funding Act will make funding from offshore oil leases permanent, which will then go to protecting parks, forests, cultural sites and water resources. The $900 million program was cut earlier this year by the Trump administration, but Gardner and Bennet aim to renew the program to fund more Colorado projects.

“I’ve been fighting to protect the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and today (Tuesday) was an important step for the Senate to move out of committee a bipartisan measure that permanently reauthorizes this critical program for Colorado’s public lands,” said Gardner, a Republican, in his statement. “There is no excuse on why we can’t get this done as there is a clear bipartisan consensus in both the House and Senate on the immense benefits of this crown jewel of conservation programs.”

Bennet, a Democrat, reiterated the same bipartisan sentiment, though he criticized Congress for not reauthorizing the LWCF before the Sept. 30 renewal deadline.

“Despite bipartisan support in both chambers, Congress failed to reauthorize LWCF – a widely popular conservation tool in Colorado and across the country,” Bennet said in his statement. “We must pass the bill approved today as soon as possible to ensure LWCF is permanently reauthorized and fully funded for the next generation of Coloradans.”

Bennet said he witnessed the effects of underfunding during a recent trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, a problem which he said could be solved by the Restore Our Parks Act.

The act, which advanced out of committee on Tuesday with both senators’ support, will establish the “National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund” in an effort to reduce the $12 million maintenance backlog at national parks around the country. The funding will come from unobligated revenues the government receives from onshore and offshore energy development, Gardner said.

Colorado’s national parks, including Mesa Verde National Park, have a combined backlog of deferred maintenance totaling $238 million, according to the National Park Service. Gardner said the fund created by the act will be accessible to national parks across Colorado, including Mesa Verde, and help with their backlogs.

“We have to provide Colorado’s parks the funding necessary to help address the billions of dollars in deferred maintenance that the park system is currently facing,” Gardner said. “The Restore Our Parks Act will protect these lands by allowing for needed investments for park infrastructure and preservation projects.”

Gardner listed Mesa Verde as one of the Colorado parks that have more than $70 million in backlogged maintenance.

In a further show of bipartisanship between the two Colorado senators, Gardner supported Bennet’s Pike National Historic Trail Study Act, which also advanced out of committee Tuesday. The bill would direct the National Park Service to conduct a feasibility study on making the Pike trail a National Historic Trail.

“We moved one step closer to passing important public lands legislation for Colorado,” Bennet said in his statement. “From designating a new National Historic Trail to establishing the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps – a program Sen. (John) McCain and I worked on for years to make a reality for America’s youths and veterans – the legislation reaffirms our commitment to America’s public lands.”

Five other pieces of legislation advanced out of the committee Tuesday, including a bill directing the Department of the Interior to study a former Japanese American relocation center, and another that continues funding for the Upper Colorado River and San Juan River fish recovery programs.

Emily Martin is a student American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.