Copyright 2000 Plain Dealer Publishing Co.
The
Plain Dealer
June 20, 2000 Tuesday, FINAL / ALL
SECTION: EDITORIALS & FORUM; Pg. 8B
LENGTH: 374 words
HEADLINE:
GIVING NATURE A BOOST
BODY:
According to the law,
money to help preserve and conserve America's parks and beaches should come from
the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
But that
fund, created in 1965 and built from mineral leasing fees, never has lived up to
its name. By 1995, after countless little raids by Congress for all sorts of
other purposes, money for conservation had dried up.
Fortunately, Congress may be having a change of heart.
A rare
combination of the environmental movement's friends, like California Democratic
Rep. George Miller, and foes, like Arkansas Republican Rep. Don Young, passed
the Conservation and Reinvestment Act in the House in May.
The next move is up to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee.
CARA, as it is called, would distribute nearly $3 billion a
year to states for the next 15 years, about $900 million through the Land and
Water Conservation Fund. CARA would be supported by oil and gas
leasing fees.
About 4,500 organizations, from environmentalist groups to
hunters, have endorsed CARA's trust-fund approach. State park and wildlife
officials, who will be able to rely on a steady source of money for regional
conservation projects, are especially enthusiastic.
Ohio will pick up $54.6 million if CARA passes, of which $25 million
would be spent to provide matching grants to local and county governments for
parks and equipment, $12 million to promote wildlife
conservation and nearly $7 million to restore the Lake Erie
shore.
CARA has its critics, primarily those who fear that the money
will be used to coerce landowners to sell out to the federal government's park
system. Yet the safeguards against that kind of skulduggery seem strong enough.
If an agency wants to buy land, it must seek to consolidate its holdings
in an area, not simply extend its reach. Land exchanges and permanent
conservation easements would be allowed, so farmers and
ranchers need not sell all of their land.
In the case of an unwilling
seller, the land acquisition must be authorized by Congress and until the land
was sold to the government, property rights could not be restricted, a common
practice now.
With those restrictions in place, the Senate should pass
CARA and the president should sign it.
COLUMN:
EDITORIALS
LOAD-DATE: June 21, 2000
