Dear Friends,
The President's budget for parks acquisition (called
the Land and Water Conservation Fund or
LWCF) will continue a fraud in the way
things happen in Washington.
The problem is not just this budget, which
it is. The bigger problem is that previous
Administrations signed legislation
hammered out in Congress which promised
private land owners that their lands would
be acquired by the federal government for
a park unit.
So the private land owners are left
holding the bag. They can either sit on
the land and hope the federal government
keeps its promise some day in the future,
or sell to the next buyer who is often a
developer.
The smart thing to do is for Congress to
provide the funds for a new park when they
create the park. But Congress argues they
can't obligate future Congresses.
That's why we need the LWCF to be a Trust
Fund with dedicated monies for parks. We
do it for highways. We do it for airports.
We should do it for our children's
heritage.
What do you think?
