BACKGROUND

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was created by Congress in 1964 to provide funds for the preservation and acquisition of important lands and is a common element in all of the conservation funding proposals under consideration this year. LWCF has been responsible for the acquisition of nearly 7 million acres of parkland, wildlife habitat, and open space -- including some of America's best-loved treasures -- Alaska's Denali National Park, Grand Canyon, Florida's Everglades, and Cape Cod National Seashore.

The primary source of funding comes from federal revenues from oil and gas drilling on the outer continental shelf of the U. S. Although the LWCF is supposed to be funded at $900 million per year, Congress has diverted as much as 85% for purposes other than conservation and recreation. Since 1964, more than $12 billion has been diverted to unrelated federal programs.

The LWCF is divided into two programs -- federal and stateside. The federal LWCF program provides money to acquire important pieces of land for our National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests and Bureau of Land Management areas. The stateside LWCF program provides money to state and local governments to acquire and preserve important lands and open space -- last year was the first time this program had received funding since 1995.

FUNDING PROPOSALS

Currently, a number of proposals are under consideration in Congress that would permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other programs to save wildlife habitat and open space, protect sensitive coastal and marine ecosystems, preserve historic and cultural sites, and protect endangered and other declining species. The four key proposals are:

• President Clinton's Lands Legacy Initiative
• The Conservation and Stewardship Act of 2000
• The Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999
• The Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 Act

While all of these provide landmark levels of funding for badly needed conservation programs, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act has serious problems that must be corrected. One of these initiatives, or a compromise combining several of these initiatives, has an excellent chance of enactment either in a budget bill or as "stand alone" legislation before Congress adjourns at the end of this year.