And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: via LONEWO1LF and FN list Clinton Proposes Open Spaces Plan .c The Associated Press By H. JOSEF HEBERT WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton proposed a $1 billion spending splurge Tuesday to protect unspoiled land and historic places. The fight in Congress will be over where and how the money will be spent. Key Republican members of Congress embraced the idea of putting more money into land preservation, but made clear that they and the White House probably will disagree on what land should be protected. The Clinton ``land legacy initiative'' calls for giving states a little more than half of the $1 billion, while devoting $442 million on direct federal land purchases. This year about $320 million was provided by Congress to buy land for preservation. The new initiative will ``meet the conservation challenges of a new century,'' said Clinton in remarks to environmentalists at the National Arboretum. ``It represents the single largest annual investment in protecting our green and open spaces since Theodore Roosevelt set our nation on the path of conservation nearly a century ago.'' Most of the $1 billion will come from revenue from offshore oil drilling, officials said. The president had hardly finished speaking when Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt made clear at a White House briefing that he already had a list of properties in mind. A top priority, he said, was to buy 450,000 acres in the Southern California desert within and around the Mojave and Joshua Tree national parks. The land can be had for $100 an acre, a great bargain, said Babbitt. Other priorities would be to buy thousands of acres of forestland in New England to keep it out of the hands of developers; patchwork parcels in the Florida Everglades; land on the Missouri River along the Lewis and Clark trail; lands within and near Civil War battlefields such as Gettysburg and Antietam. The administration's wish list, however, is likely to run into trouble in Congress, where lawmakers have their own ideas on how the money -- if it is appropriated -- should be spent. The administration will ``assert its priorities,'' said Babbitt. But he conceded that members of Congress will come up with their own lists as well, foreshadowing another budget tussle. ``The focus ought to be on protecting what we have,'' said Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., chairman of the Environment subcommittee on parks. He called Babbitt's proposal to buy land in the Mojave ``a new adventure'' he would oppose. Sen. Frank Murkowski welcomed the administration's move to provide more money to states for conservation but said the federal government shouldn't tell states how to use it. ``The administration assumes that adding more land to the federal estate is the foremost desire of local and state governments. It is not,'' said Murkowski. So, while the administration will push its list of priorities, including expansion of the federal marine sanctuaries program and restoration of coral reefs, the lawmakers in Congress will push their own projects. Environmentalists, meanwhile, welcomed the high-profile attention being given to the issue of land preservation. After all, they said, Congress for years has severely shortchanged the pool of money for buying land for preservation, and that may change. ``Parks and other public lands have to fight for scraps from the federal budget every year,'' said Thomas Kiernan, president of the National Parks and Conservation Association, a private advocacy group for federal parks. Whatever the debate, Babbitt says funding for land conservation and preserving America's natural heritage has widespread appeal. As the president was announcing his new lands legacy initiative, the American Society of Architects released a poll the group had commissioned showing that nearly nine of every 10 Americans consider access to parks and high-quality outdoor spaces extremely or very important. AP-NY-01-12-99 1742EST Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press. <<<<=-=-=FREE LEONARD PELTIER=-=-=>>>> If you think you are too small to make a difference; try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito.... African Proverb <<<<=-=http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ =-=>>>> IF it says: "PASS THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW...." Please Check it before you send it at: http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/library/blhoax.htm
