REDWOOD NEEDLES Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES Return to Article Menu Redwood Needles April 1999   The Land and Water Conservation Fund It's ours, let's take it back! It's sad to see wildlands developed just because the money isn't there to purchase them for protection. It's even sadder when the money is there, but Congress refuses to spend it. But the window of opportunity is now open. President Clinton and a key group of bipartisan leaders in Congress are advocating legislation to permanently fund the LWCF and its urban companion, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program (UPARR). California representatives George Miller and Tom Campbell as well as Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are all introducing legislation to this end. The LWCF-an American success story The Land and Water Conservation Fund was created in 1965 based on a simple idea: when we extract resources from public lands, we should put something back into resource protection. The revenues-up to $900 million each year-come primarily from fees paid by companies drilling off-shore for publicly owned oil and gas. The LWCF then supports the creation and conservation of parks, forests, clean water, and open spaces-to guarantee outdoor-recreation opportunities and a clean environment for all Americans. The program has been responsible for the acquisition of nearly seven million acres of park land and open space and the development of more than 37,000 state parks and recreation projects. When you think of lands added to our national parks, think of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. When you think of federal acquisition of inholdings within national forests and wilderness areas, think of the LWCF. When you think of protecting endangered-species habitat, think of the LWCF. Just in California the LWCF has added lands to Point Reyes National Seashore, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Redwood National Park, the Trinity Alps, and the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as to the Tahoe, Los Padres, and Mendocino National Forests-for a total of $567,350,491 appropriated from 1965 to 1997. When you think of urban parks, think of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. When you think of greenbelt open spaces, think of the LWCF. When you think of many of our most cherished local and regional parks, think of the LWCF. Here on the North Coast the LWCF has aided dozens of local and regional projects including Humboldt Redwoods and Russian Gulch State Parks-projects too numerous to list and too varied to classify. Unmet needs But we have been shortchanged. Congress has been diverting money from the LWCF to unrelated programs. Theoretically the LWCF is supposed to receive around $900 million each year from offshore-oil revenues. Each fiscal year, however, Congress must vote an appropriation to make the money available. As the Sacramento Bee points out, "In 1997, Congress' budget provided only $159 million for the Land and [Water] Conservation Fund. That's lower than any budget for the past two decades. That's even lower than any during the anti-park James Watt years of the Reagan administration." The Bee's conclusion: "Congress should fully fund its parks endowment." Meanwhile, combined estimates from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management show a $7 billion backlog in land-acquisition needs. This backlog includes lands critical to conserving wetlands, watersheds, and wilderness; protecting refuges and habitat; and providing trails and open space for outdoor recreation. As California's population grows, the LWCF can purchase greenbelt lands to keep them from sprawl development. Practically every city can use help acquiring parklands or making improvements in the parks it has. Now more than ever, full and permanent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund is critical to wildlife, parks, recreation, and open space. Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation (AHR), a national group including conservation, park, and recreation leaders; urban, open-space, and cultural-preservation advocates; and the sporting-goods industry, has embarked on a nationwide grassroots campaign to revitalize the LWCF and Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery program. To educate the public and elected officials about what must be done, AHR has developed the following guiding principles: • full permanent funding for the LWCF; • equitable funding for both federal and state components; • a revived UPARR with substantial funding and land-acquisition authority; • guaranteed permanent automatic annual funding for the LWCF and UPARR; • consistency with protection and restoration of the nation's natural environment, native habitats, and historic, cultural, and public recreation resources. What you can do Join the campaign to revitalize the Land and Water Conservation Fund and endorse the guiding principles. To participate in letter-writing campaigns, district meetings, and editorial-board visits, contact Thérèse Casper at Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation at (415)495-4014 or: tcasper@ahrinfo.org Write your representative at: U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515; and Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer at: U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510. Urge them to restore full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and UPARR by supporting AHR's guiding principles. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper educating the public about this important program. -Thérèse Casper, Americans for Our Heritage and Recreation   Return to Article Menu Last updated on 3/02/99 Comments or suggestions? Drop us a line at heyneedles@aol.com