Golden announces more than $600,000 to support recreation in the Second District
WASHINGTON — Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) today announced grants totaling more than $600,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to support recreation in the towns of Littleton and Mexico. The funding will be used to renovate existinginfrastructure and add new features to the Littleton Playground and Mexico Recreation Park.
“Spending time outside is good for the body and good for the soul,” Golden said. “The Land and Water Conservation Fund has provided generations of Americans with access to protected outdoor spaces, and I’m pleased that these grants will help Littleton and Mexico residents enjoy quality outdoor recreation opportunities for years to come.”
Littleton’s $102,000 grant will help the town add new equipment and benches to the playground, regrade a gravel entrance driveway and parking lot, add Americans with Disability Act (ADA)-accessible parking spaces and replace fencing on the playground.
Mexico’s $500,950 grant will upgrade a tennis court, add basketball and pickleball courts, install lighting, build ADA-accessible picnic infrastructure and add tables, plantings, parking and a new picnic pavilion.
The LWCF provides grant funding to local, state and federal agencies to protect natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage, as well as provide recreation opportunities. It was established in 1964 and uses zero taxpayer dollars; Instead, it is fully funded by surplus federal property sales, the federal motorboat fuel tax, and revenues from U.S. oil and gas leases, at no cost to the taxpayer.
Golden has been an avid proponent of the LWCF during his time in Congress. In his first term, he introduced the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), which was signed into law in 2020 and protected the program’s stability for the future. LWCF has delivered $16 million in funding since 2020 to the Second District to conserve working forests and public lands near Perham Stream and Bethel and in Acadia National Park.
###