Clinton wants $1.46 billion for Lands Legacy

President Clinton's proposal would provide $150 million in land-acquisition grants for parks, greenbelts, outdoor recreation areas, wetlands and wildlife habitat.

February 9, 2000
Web posted at: 2:05 PM EST (1905 GMT)

By Environmental News Network staff

President Clinton has proposed a record budget — $1.46 billion — in the fiscal year 2001 to protect land and coastal resources.

The request is a 93 percent increase over this year's budget for the government's Lands Legacy Initiative.

"I think it's wonderful. The administration has done a great job," said Sue Gunn, who directs The Wilderness Society's budget and appropriations program.

Gunn is optimistic that the majority of the Lands Legacy budget, a downsized version of the Young-Miller bill, will be approved by Congress. "They've created a budget space that could accommodate the Young-Miller bill in the final appropriations process," she said.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Saving the environment

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999, commonly known as the Young-Miller bill, would amend and secure permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 and the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. The bill would also provide assistance to coastal states under the Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance Fund.

"I was in a briefing yesterday with Secretary of the Interior Babbitt and like he said, 'This lame duck has wings,' " said Gunn.

Priorities in the proposed Lands Legacy budget include:

$521 million, or nearly four times the current funding level, to help states and communities protect wildlife and local green space.

$450 million, a 7 percent increase over the fiscal 2000 budget, for federal efforts to save natural and historic treasures.

$429 million, a 159 percent increase, to protect ocean and coastal resources, including a program to help coastal states address the environmental impact of existing offshore oil and gas development.

Lands Legacy funding is allocated to agencies in charge of federal land and coastal areas. The Department of the Interior, which has jurisdiction over the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, would receive $735 million under Clinton's proposed budget. The Department of Agriculture, which includes the U.S. Forest Service, would get $236 million, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would receive $429 million.

The Lands Legacy initiative also includes a $65 million mandatory fund for the USDA's Farmland Protection Program.

The Lands Legacy budget is divided into specific grants, programs and funds. They include:

Land and Water Conservation Fund State Land Acquisition Grants. Included in the $521 million budget for states and communities is $150 million for matching grants to states to buy land and easements for parks, greenbelts, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat and coastal wetlands. This is an increase of $109 million for matching grants. This NPS program focuses on smart growth and open space preservation, with no more than 50 percent of the funds allocated to states for development projects.

State Planning Partnerships. The initiative proposes a new $50 million program for grants, contracts and technical assistance to state and local governments to develop smart growth plans for open space and to manage urban growth. The USGS, who will allocate the funds, will use its expertise in data collection, management and analysis to help state and local entities in the planning process. About half of the funds will be awarded as competitive grants and matched 50 percent by the recipient.

Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery. This program provides $20 million, an increase of $18 million over this year's budget, in matching grants and technical assistance to rehabilitate parks and improve recreation services in economically distressed urban communities. This NPS program awarded more than 1,200 similar grants from 1978 to 1995.

Forest Legacy Program. This USFS program would get $60 million, a 100 percent increase, for matching state grants to purchase permanent conservation easements to protect private forest land that provides critical wildlife habitat or is threatened by development. The funding would protect an estimated 150,000 acres.

Louisiana would benefit considerably from a budget bump to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Urban and Community Forestry. The proposed $40 million for this USFS program would match grants to states and communities to establish, maintain and expand urban and community forests and green space. The program operates in partnership with 8,000 volunteer groups in more than 10,000 communities. The proposed budget would support 75,000 projects.

Smart Growth Partnership. This new revolving-loan program would support land acquisition and easements in rural areas. The USFS would lend money to state, local and tribal governments who, in turn, would make funds available to rural businesses, land trusts and other nonprofit organizations. The proposed $6 million partnership would deliver $30 million in loans.

Land and Water Conservation Fund Federal Land Acquisition. The 2001 LWCF request is $450 million: $320 million for DOI agencies and $130 million for the USFS. The request is a 7 percent increase over the fiscal 2000 budget. Of the $320 million proposed for the DOI, the BLM share is $60.9 million and the NPS portion is $147.5 million. The remainder of the allocation would go to the USFWS.

Priorities for the LWCF federal fund include: completing the acquisition of more than 180,000 acres in California's Mojave Desert; $6.5 million to protect the bayous and wetlands in Arkansas and Louisiana; $4 million to protect ancient sequoias in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains; $15.1 million to protect Lewis and Clark's historic route along the Missouri River; $22 million to protect historic Civil War battlefields; and $100 million, a 72 percent increase, to help state, local and tribal efforts to restore healthy runs of wild coastal salmon.

The Lands Legacy budget includes $429 million for programs, grants and funds to protect oceans and coastline. NOAA will oversee the funding. Coastal programs include:

Coastal Impact Assistance. This new $100 million assistance program would provide coastal states involved in offshore oil and gas production with additional resources to protect and maintain ocean and coastal resources.

Coastal Zone Management Act Program. This $159 million initiative, a 269 percent increase, would promote smart growth strategies to mitigate urban sprawl and help coastal states implement community-based projects for environmentally sound economic development.

National Marine Sanctuaries. Proposed is a $35 million allocation, or a 38 percent increase, to further protect 12 federal marine sanctuaries offshore California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, Washington and American Samoa. The allocation would also be used to develop other marine sanctuaries.

National Estuarine Research Reserves System. This $20 million program would expand a network of critical estuaries representing all biological regions along U.S. coastline.

Coral Reef Restoration. A proposed $15 million would protect fragile coral reefs from pollution and other human impact. NOAA, working with states, territories, the DOI and other federal agencies, would restore injured reefs in Puerto Rico, Florida, Hawaii and U.S territories. The agency would also develop a coral nursery to grow donor material and develop other restoration techniques.

Clinton proposes record budget for wildlife
February 8, 2000
Coral provides clues to climate change
February 7, 2000

Clinton proposes record budget for wildlife
Budgets signed, groups sigh in relief
Congress allocates conservation funds
Environment takes a beating in Congress
Clinton's legacy maybe in new federal lands
Bill boosts public land acquisition
Conservationists applaud lands protection initiative

The Clinton-Gore Administration FY2001 Budget
Department of the Interior FY 2001 Budget
The Wilderness Society

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.