Senate votes to extend key funding mechanism for parks | 12 Feb 2019 | The Senate voted Tuesday to indefinitely extend the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a key funding mechanism for national and local parks. The bipartisan renewal of the LWCF, which expired in October when Congress couldn't come to an agreement on an extension, is the main pillar of a wide-ranging public lands bill the Senate voted to pass on Tuesday, 92-8. Conservation groups cheered the Senate's vote.