Office of the Secretary
For Immediate Release: September 17, 1999
Contact: Tim Ahern (202) 208-5089
BABBITT VISITS LOS ANGELES' "LAST
OPEN SPACE" DISCUSSES
NEED TO
CURB OVER DEVELOPMENT WITH PERMANENT FUNDING SOURCE
WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt visited Los Angeles' Baldwin Hills today and advocated establishing a permanent fund so government can protect important open spaces from development. California would receive almost $42 million a year from the Land and Water Conservation Fund(LWCF) if it is fully funded.
"The Baldwin Hills are Los Angeles' last open space, and a critical addition to this recreation area would likely be one of the first purchases of the President's Lands Legacy initiative, if it is approved by Congress," said Babbitt.
"If there is one thing Congress can do to help stop the negative effects of urban sprawl like over development, air and water pollution and destruction of wildlife habitat, it is to approve the President's Lands Legacy plan for protecting open space."
The Lands Legacy program, announced last January, would provide almost $1 billion in federal money to protect a variety of sites, historic spaces, and open lands across the nation. At the same time, the President said he would work with Congress to enact annual full funding of the LWCF. The fund, created in 1965, includes money from the sale of federal offshore oil leases.
California has received $233 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund since 1965. Many of the state's natural areas and parklands were protected with money from the fund, including: El Matador and El Pescador Beaches within the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach Park in Malibu, Point Dume State Beach in Los Angeles County, and the Kenneth Hahn Recreation Area at Baldwin Hills.
Babbitt said under plans currently advocated by Congress, California would receive very little from the LWCF.
"The promise of the Land and Water Conservation Fund has never been fully kept," said Babbitt. "It was set up to provide almost $1 billion a year, both through direct federal purchase and through grants to states that they could then use to protect land and open space. But rather than have these funds flow automatically, Congress has required that it appropriate the money every year. That has meant that Congress has usually approves less than one-third of the money available."
"Congress has broken its promise to the American people. That promise in 1965 was that the money from using offshore lands for oil and gas would go to purchase recreational, scenic and environmentally sensitive land for future generations. But it has never happened on a regular basis."
In addition to the Baldwin Hills acquisitions, Babbitt said California had many open space parcels and recreation needs that the state could protect with its share of LWCF money, such as Bair Island in San Francisco Bay, Point Lobos Ranch State Park and the Golden Avenue Park Development in Long Beach.
The President's budget also contains $700 million for Better America Bonds, which are tax credits that communities can use to preserve green space, create or restore urban parks and clean up abandoned industrial sites. Other quality of life initiatives in the President's budget include Community Transportation Choices, programs to provide flexible support to help communities create regional transportation strategies and encourage broader use of alternative transportation.
"Americans care deeply about their local great places. Voters approved more than 250 ballot initiatives last November designed to curb sprawl and congestion by protecting open spaces. It is about time that Congress lives up to the promise it made to provide Americans with funds to protect their quality of life and the vital natural resources in their communities," said Babbitt.
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