[at-l] Good News From Washington

[John O <johno@mail.monmouth.com>]

 Associated Press
                 W A S H I N G T O N, Jan. 12 — In its second major
                 environmental initiative in as many days, the
                 Clinton administration is proposing to triple
                 spending to preserve vulnerable lands — from
                 buying new parkland to rescuing
                 erosion-threatened beaches. 
                     President Clinton planned to unveil the $1 billion
spending
                 proposal today as a bold stroke to “save America’s natural
                 treasures.”
                      The “land-legacy initiative” — to be included in the
fiscal
                 2000 budget Clinton will send to Congress next week —
                 calls for adding thousands of acres to the system of
federally
                 protected lands and provide states with nearly $600 million
                 for land preservation, officials said. 

                 Day After Gore Announcement
                 The announcement comes a day after Vice President Al
                 Gore unveiled a separate program that proposes to use
                 $700 million in tax credits to finance a $10 billion bond
                 program aimed at creating suburban parks, greenways and
                 other open space.
                      That proposal was aimed at dealing with suburban
                 sprawl, while the new initiative is directed at restoring and
                 protecting undeveloped, but vulnerable, forests, grasslands,
                 beaches and marine sanctuaries, officials said.
                      Environmentalists long have urged the administration to
                 increase land purchases to protect such lands from
                 commercial exploitation.

                 Reagan Put Buying on Hold
                 Congress more than three decades ago created a land and
                 water conservation fund that authorized spending as much
                 as $900 million a year to buy land for conservation. But in
                 most years only about a third of that money was ever
                 provided and during the Reagan administration land
                 purchases were put on hold.
                      


                 This year Congress provided about $320 million for federal
                 land purchases.
                      The Clinton proposal calls for full funding of the
program
                 and would funnel millions of dollars more — for a total of
                 just over $1 billion a year — into land preservation. Most of
                 the money would come from revenues collected from
                 offshore oil drilling, officials said.
                      The Interior Department at one point had sought as
                 much as $3 billion for the program, but that proposal was
                 rebuffed as too extravagant by the White House Office of
                 Management and Budget, according to sources
                 knowledgeable about the internal discussions.
                      The package to be sent to Congress as part of the
                 budget will include $442 million to buy inholdings at
national
                 parks and historically or environmentally significant parcels
                 that might otherwise be threatened.

                 $588 Million for States
                 An additional $588 million would be provided to states to
                 buy land or work with private parties to create conservation
                 easements or private land trusts, officials said.
                      Priority land purchases under the program would include
                 large tracts of forest in New England, private parcels within
                 and near the Mojave and Joshua Tree national parks in the
                 Southern California desert, land in the Florida Everglades,
                 and land along the 3,700-mile Lewis and Clark Trail as well
                 land near a number of Civil War battlefields.
                      Separately, the administration will call on Congress to
                 grant permanent wilderness protection to more than 5
                 million acres within 17 national parks, including parts of
                 Yellowstone, Grant Teton and Glacier national parks,
                 officials said.
                      Environmentalists have argued that there is widespread
                 public support for setting aside land for preservation and
                 that Congress traditionally shortchanged these efforts. 

                                                              
                  Bonds To Support Conservation 
                  Vice President Al Gore Monday unveiled a $10 billion bond
                  program to help U.S. communities preserve green space,
                  reduce traffic congestion, protect water quality and clean
                  abandoned industrial sites.
                       The “Better America Bonds” initiative, part of the
                  administration’s budget for fiscal year 2000, will inject
                  massive new federal funds into efforts to curb urban sprawl
                  and improve quality of life in burgeoning areas of the
                  country.
                       The cost to taxpayers is projected at $700 million over
                  the first five years.
                       The new bonds, if approved by Congress, would allow
                  state, local and tribal governments to obtain zero-interest
                  financing because investors who buy the 15-year bonds
                  would receive tax credits in lieu of interest.
                       The bonds are meant to be used to preserve and
                  enhance green space, create or restore urban parks and
                  buy or get permanent easements on suburban open space
                  and threatened wetlands. In addition, the bonds would be
                  available to supplement existing administration
initiatives to
                  clean up abandoned industrial sites
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John F. O'Mahoney
E=mail: johno@mail.monmouth.com
John O's Ultralight Backpacking Page:
http://www.monmouth.com/~johno/index.html
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