WASHINGTON (AP) — .A vote on a stopgap spending plan that would avoid a partial government shutdown is being delayed as senators debate whether to reauthorize a popular program that supports conservation and outdoor recreation projects across the country.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers, mostly from the West, are seeking to include language in the budget deal reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund. If that proves impossible, lawmakers hope to extend the program in a separate bill addressing a maintenance backlog at national parks and other public lands issues.

Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, a leading advocate of the conservation fund, says he and other lawmakers are working to reauthorize the program before Congress adjourns for the year.

But he adds, “I’m not advocating closing down the government.”

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