Editorial: Legislation would aid national parks

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 | 11:57 a.m.

Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and Bob Graham, D-Fla., are offering a fitting present for Earth Day, which will be marked Thursday. They are the chief sponsors of bipartisan legislation that would transfer as much as $500 million of the $4 billion the federal government receives annually from offshore oil drilling royalties to a new fund to support our national parks.

The federal government is expected to have an $80 billion surplus this year, so using a portion of these royalties makes sense. About 65 million people visit national parks every year -- including 90,000 who visit the Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada -- and this plan would help repair threatened ecosystems and preserve resources at these national parks.

Reid and Graham noted in a joint statement that the $500 million annual program would transfer funding from activities that cause pollution to programs that foster preservation. Congress should pass this legislation to help preserve these natural treasures that are such an important part of this nation's heritage.