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(b) Within six months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior
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(i) the number of youth, ages 15 through 22, employed during the summer of 1999, and the number estimated to be employed during the summer of 2000, through the Youth Conservation Corp, the Public Land Corps, or a related partnership with a State, local, or non-profit youth conservation corps or other entity such as the Student Conservation Association;
(ii) a description of the different types of work accomplished by youth during the summer of 1999;
(iii) identification of an problems that prevent or limit the use of the Youth Conservation Corps, the Public Land Corps, or related partnerships to accomplish projects described in subsection (a);
(iv) recommendations to improve the use and effectiveness of partnerships described in subsection (a); and
(v) and analysis of the maintenance backlog that identifies the types of projects that the Youth Conservation Corps, the Public Land Corps, or related partnerships are qualified to complete.
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AMENDMENT NO. 1642
On page 5, line 13, strike ``$130,000,000,'' and insert ``$135,000,000''.
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AMENDMENT NO. 1643
On page 18, line 19, strike ``program.'' and insert ``program, and in addition $20,000,000 shall be available to provide financial assistance to States and shall be derived from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to offer an amendment with Senator LAUTENBERG and 25 other Senators to provide $20 million for the stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund or LWCF matching grant program.
Too often we forget that--in addition to a National Park System--we have national system of parks which includes tens of thousands of State and local parks. More than 37,000 of these State and local parks and recreation facilities have received a stateside LWCF matching grant, but there is a problem. The stateside LWCF program has been shut down because Congress hasn't funded it. Yet O.C.S. revenues currently are at $4 billion.
Over 30 years ago, in a bipartisan effort, Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF is funded with Federal revenues from off-shore oil and gas leasing which now exceed $4 billion a year. LWCF money can be used for two purposes:
(1) Acquisition of land by the four Federal land management agencies; and (2) matching grants to State and local governments for recreation facilities, parks, playgrounds, and campgrounds. The LWCF Act envisions a balance: between the Federal and State and local parks; between the needs of rural and urban populations; and between easterners and westerners.
Mr. President, I now want to refer to a ``LWCF Authorization/Appropriation'' chart. As this chart shows, the balance has been lost. FY1995 was the last year the LWCF stateside matching grant program was funded. In that year, over $600 million was requested and only $25 million was appropriated. Despite the past successes and growing demand, Washington pulled the rug out from under the stateside program. Four years ago, Congress and the administration zeroed out the stateside program. That was a serious mistake. Washington was being penny-wise and pound foolish. The promise to Americans set forth in the LWCF Act was broken.
When the offshore oil leasing program began, a portion of the receipts were pledged to recreation and conservation of America's great outdoors. I see no reason not to meet that pledge. I see many reasons to keep it. As the chart shows, 2 years ago was a record year for the
Land and Water Conservation Fund when over $900 million was appropriated. Out of the total, the Senate appropriated $100 million for the stateside matching grant program.
Unfortunately, the good work of the Senate went for naught. This money was lost in conference. None of this money went to the stateside grant program. Every appropriated dollar went to Federal land acquisition and maintenance of Federal land.
This year the mistake of closing down this program is being recognized. The administration requested $150 million for a State land conservation grants program and $50 million for open space planning grants to States and local governments as part of their Lands Legacy proposal. As Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I had to oppose the administration's proposal because these programs are not authorized by the LWCF Act.
The President's Land Legacy proposal sought to fundamentally restructure the stateside matching grant program authorized by the LWCF Act. The LWCF stateside program is a formula grant program which provides monies to State and local communities for the planning, acquisition, and development of parks and recreation facilities. The President proposed to replace this program with a competitive grant program to the States for the purchase of land and open space planning. This proposal would have changed the focus of the stateside program and undercut the federalism inherent in the existing program.
Nonetheless, I was encouraged that the President, after 4 years, recognized the importance of sharing LWCF moneys with State and local governments. More progress in restoring stateside was made last month when the House appropriated $30 million for the program.
With this amendment, the Senate is doing its part. With tough budget targets, it was not easy to find $20 million in such a lean bill; however, we were able to find offsets from a variety of programs. These are difficult choices, but well worth it.
I wish we could have provided more money for this important program. However, it is a start. I will do all I can do to ensure that in conference the Senate recede to the House and provide $30 million for the stateside matching grant program. I also will continue to seek permanent funding for this program so that we do not have to fight this annual appropriations battle.
Our system of government works best when all levels of government work together with the private sector to pursue shared goals. Few goals are as worthy as recreation for families and communities. Recreation is not a child's play. It is more than a hobby. It is a necessary component of our lives. It boosts the economy. It helps build stronger families and communities. And it encourages conservation efforts and helps preserve open space.
So why deny communities matching funds for recreation from proceeds of our offshore leasing program? I support offshore leasing and the use of some proceeds for stateside LWCF matching grants to State and local governments.
This amendment gives us a good reason to focus on the value of recreation to our lives and how we can do a better job encouraging people of all ages to enjoy America's natural splendor. Trips to national parks are remembered for a lifetime, but most day-to-day recreation takes place close to home and demand for local recreation resources is high and increasing. We must restore the LWCF stateside program; it is a good investment. This amendment is a start.
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill that I am offering with my colleague from Alaska, Mr. MURKOWSKI.
I would like to thank our broad range of bipartisan cosponsors: Senators BOXER, CHAFEE, DODD, ROTH, SESSIONS, FEINGOLD, KERRY of Massachusetts, LEAHY, LANDRIEU, LINCOLN, FRIST, GRAHAM, COLLINS, SMITH of New Hampshire, GREGG, MOYNIHAN, WARNER, BAYH, MCCAIN, AKAKA, FEINSTEIN, JEFFORDS, and HAGEL.
Mr. President, this amendment would restore funds to a program that has helped protect open space in every State in the Nation through the State grants section of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This amendment restores $20 million in fiscal year 2000 for these matching grants to States.
This ``Stateside'' program can be used to fund a variety of public open space efforts, including State and county parks, State forests, boating and swimming areas, and a variety of other recreational sites.
Mr. President, the House of Representatives saw fit to include the program at $30 million in its Interior Appropriations bill.
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We hope to come to their level in conference after our initial funding at $20 million.
Over the past 30 years, through the stateside program, over $3 billion has been provided to the States, and through them, to local governments, on a matching basis, to preserve approximately 37,000 park and recreation areas.
Mr. President, the decision to fund open space programs through the Land and Water Conservation Fund is one of the wisest investments we can make. Open spaces are more than just undeveloped land. We all know that protecting open spaces can guard sensitive drinking water supplies and preserve wildlife habitat.
Open spaces are also a lasting legacy we pass on to our children and grandchildren.
But there is another equally important benefit of open spaces.
In my State of New Jersey--the most densely populated State in the Nation--open spaces provide working families of limited means a place to enjoy the outdoors at little or no cost. A day at the beach or a picnic in the park or a hike in the woods is a day well spent.
Mr. President, open space is extremely valuable in my State. In a poll last year by Quinnipiac College published in the Newark Star-Ledger, 70 percent of New Jersey residents said that preserving open space and farmland is more important than commercial growth and development in rural areas.
Mr. President, it is extremely gratifying when members of both parties can join together in support of a program that has provided untold benefits for millions of Americans. I want to thank Senator MURKOWSKI and my other colleagues who support this amendment. I ask all of my colleagues to join us to preserve open space for America's families.
Mr. CHAFEE. Mr. President, I am extremely pleased to cosponsor the bipartisan amendment, offered by my colleague from Alaska, regarding the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The amendment provides $20 million for matching grants to States under the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which, for almost 30 years, had enabled small communities throughout the Nation to establish local parks, build sports fields, acquire green ways and trails, and support community gardens.
The stateside program under the LWCF is a worthwhile conservation program that for too long has been without any funding at all. It has received nothing since 1995, and States have been strapped to find money for their own conservation efforts without any Federal assistance. As pressures for development and sprawl increase in many parts of the Nation, it is more important than ever to help States protect the open and green spaces that are crucial for a healthy community.
And with the recent ballot initiatives to promote conservation that have been approved by voters across the Nation, States now have money available to match Federal dollars through the stateside program. It is now up to Congress to make the Federal money available. For those who criticize the program as a form of pork, let me stress that States must put up 50 percent of the money for their projects. This is not a hand-out. This is a fiscally sound program that makes land and water conservation for thousands of small communities around the country a national priority.
The stateside program has been supported by mayors, county officials, governors, civic associations, outdoor recreation groups, land conservancy groups, conservation groups--the list goes on and on.
I add myself to that list as a strong proponent of the LWCF, including the stateside program. The Federal Government, in my opinion, plays a vital role in assisting State and local governments establish local parks and protect open and green space. Indeed, when I was Governor of Rhode Island, I started the Green Acres Program in 1964 for this purpose, and the Federal Government matched some of the money to help get the program going.
Earlier this year, Senator LEAHY and I circulated a letter to our fellow Senators, asking them to support full funding for the LWCF. Thirty-six of our colleagues in the Senate endorsed that letter and signed it. What a tremendous showing of bipartisan support!
I am very pleased that the managers of the bill have agreed to this amendment.
Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the Senator from Alaska, Mr. MURKOWSKI, and the Senator from New Jersey, Mr. LAUTENBERG, in offering this important bipartisan amendment to provide much needed funding for the stateside program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Additional co-sponsors include Senators CHAFEE, ROTH, DODD, LANDRIEU, SESSIONS, FEINGOLD, LINCOLN, LEAHY, FRIST, KERRY, GRAHAM, COLLINS, SMITH of New Hampshire, GREGG, MOYNIHAN, WARNER, BAYH, MCCAIN, AKAKA, FEINSTEIN, JEFFORDS, and HAGEL.
The stateside program has, once again (since fiscal year 1995) been zeroed-out. Our amendment provides $20 million for this popular program.
As the 21st century approaches, we must renew our commitment to our natural heritage. That commitment must go beyond a piecemeal approach. It must be a comprehensive, long-term strategy to ensure that when our children's children enter the 22d century, they can herald our actions today, as we revere those of President Roosevelt.
And preservation in the 21st century goes beyond protection of such wonders as Yosemite and Yellowstone. It must include an urban park in East Los Angeles where children can play basketball, a farm in Tulare County that can continue to grow oranges or a historic building in Orange County that can be restored.
Today, our natural heritage is disappearing at an alarming rate. Each year, nearly 3 million acres of farmland and more than 170,000 acres of wetlands disappear. Each day, over 7,000 acres of open space are lost forever.
Across America, parks are closing, recreational facilities deteriorating, open spaces vanishing, historic structures crumbling.
Why is this happening? Because there is no dedicated funding source for all these noble purposes--a source which can be used only for these noble purposes.
I have offered a comprehensive bill--Resources 2000--that provides the most sweeping commitment to protecting America's natural heritage in more than 30 years. It will establish a dedicated funding source for resource protection.
But until such legislation is enacted, we must do what we can to fund these important programs now. This amendment does just that.
This amendment will provide $20 million for the stateside portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
This is an important amendment for the future of our local communities, our quality of life, the recreational opportunities of our families and the preservation of our important lands.
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is a fund that was developed out of a bargain between the development of the offshore oil and the preservation of nonrenewable assets in our communities and throughout our Nation.
Since 1965, we have appropriated some $3 billion to local governments, States and local governments, to help them protect and conserve these assets. States and local governments have matched that with an additional $3 billion. That match tells us the kind of
priority that our local communities place upon this program.
Unfortunately, in 1995 it all stopped and Congress failed to appropriate money for the program. One of the most successful programs that we have at the Federal level stopped. Since that time, if had provided the money that this program was truly entitled to, there would have been an additional $2.5 billion that would have then been matched by another $2.5 billion in non-federal dollars. That would be $5 billion going toward improving quality of life and protecting and conserving natural resources based upon the priorities of those local communities.
Mr. President, every state across the Nation benefits from this program. I have here a book put together by the National Recreation and Park Association listing hundreds of projects in every state that are in dire need of this funding.
In my State of California, we have used stateside funding to team up with local sponsors to purchase areas of
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One project that I requested funding for this year is the Urban Nature Center and Sanctuary in Ernest Debs Park in Los Angeles. This Park would provide nature experiences for some of the city's most underserved children and their families.
The National Audubon Society in cooperation with the City of Los Angeles, is developing a model Urban Nature Center in Ernest Debs Regional Park in Northeast Los Angeles. This surprisingly natural, 195-acre site, run by the City's Recreation and Parks Department, is five miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It rises above some of the city's densest urban neighborhoods, yet is home to more than 80 species of birds and other wildlife. Within two miles of the park, there are more than 30,000 children, mostly Latino, attending school for whom the park and the nature center could be a giant outdoor classroom.
The Nature Center is an exciting opportunity to bring together Audubon's traditional sources of support for conservation education with city, state and federal funds for parks, trails and habitat restoration. For its part in this innovative public/private partnership, the City of Los Angeles will dedicate $1 million in existing County bond funds for habitat enhancement. The Audubon Society is dedicated to raising $4 million in private contributions. I requested $1 million for the federal contribution for this project, but nothing was provided.
Mr. President, this is the kind-of thing we are always pushing for--federal/non-federal, public/private collaboration on important projects. And while others are contributing their share, the federal government is doing nothing. This must change.
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