St. Louis, MO (KTRS) The U.S. House moves to save the Land and Water Conservation Fund by approving a sweeping package of public lands bills that includes a measure to permanently reauthorize the program for the first time in its 54-year-history.

Across the country, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has helped protect national parks, expand trails and playing fields, and preserve important landscapes for over half a century.

Missouri has received approximately $141 million dollars in LWCF funding over the past five decades. That money has been used to protect Missouri treasures like the Mark Twain National Forest and the Ozark National Scenic Riverway. The Nature Conservancy of Missouri has protected more than 150,000 acres of critical lands since 1956.

The package now goes to the president for his expected signature.