Copyright 2000 The Denver Post Corporation
The
Denver Post
July 25, 2000 Tuesday 2D EDITION
SECTION: DENVER & THE WEST; Pg. B-08
LENGTH: 425 words
HEADLINE:
EDITORIAL Needed: True representation
BODY:
Critical environmental legislation is pending in a committee
on which U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell serves, and where his
vote could prove pivotal.
But instead of supporting the
Conservation and Reinvestment Act, the Colorado
Republican is siding with a fringe conservative group that comes from
the old rip-and-shred mentality of public lands. Most troubling,
Campbell's opposition could leave Colorado's wildlife agency in a
financial crunch.
CARA would use an existing revenue stream, from
federal off-shore oil drilling royalties, to protect wildlife
habitat, increase outdoor recreation opportunities and help fund
state and tribal wildlife programs. Surveys show that 95 percent
of Americans participate in some kind of outdoor recreation:
hiking, fishing, cycling, hunting, water sports and so forth. But in
many places, demand for campgrounds, trails, parks, fishing
areas, soccer fields and the like has far outstripped the ability
of local, state or federal governments to respond.
CARA would
fix the problem by providing some $ 3 billion a year, of which up to
$ 57 million annually would flow to Colorado. Our state's share would
include $ 7.7 million for land conservation and,
more important, another $ 7.1 million for
wildlife conservation and $ 760,000 for endangered
species protection.
Those last items could greatly help the
cash-strapped Colorado Division of Wildlife, whose income has been
falling even as it has taken on new tasks like eliminating the
trout-killing whirling disease. The state legislature helped last
session by raising big-game hunting fees, but the wildlife agency
still is scrambling for the bucks to protect endangered species.
Thus even staunch Republicans support CARA,
including Coloradans Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Reps. Scott McInnis,
a moderate, and Tom Tancredo and Joel Hefley, whose
conservative credentials cannot be credibly challenged by anyone.
Yet Campbell absurdly claims that the voluntary land swaps
and acquisitions that CARA would enable would amount to socialism.
He further contends that providing adequate funding for
existing, federally mandated programs would undercut
Congress' constitutional authority.
Campbell clearly is out
to lunch on this issue.
He may have chosen to hitch his political star
to the most radical, anachronistic elements in Western politics, but
he is not representing the true, best interests of the state he was
elected to serve.
LOAD-DATE: July 25, 2000
