Editorial: Revised lands bill is a shame

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 | 10:34 a.m.

After months of stalemate, a compromise appears in sight that would establish a new land conservation program, more than doubling the federal government's current commitment to conservation efforts. Under the tentative agreement reached by the White House, Senate and the House, $12 billion would be set aside for the next six years to buy land for parks and help restore damaged coastal areas. At first glance this would seem to be an improvement. But the bill still falls dramatically short of the legislation the House passed earlier this year, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, which would have spent $45 billion over 15 years.

The reason for the smaller size is that there were objections to committing such a vast sum for such a long period of time. This always was a specious argument, though, since the program wouldn't create new taxes or hike existing ones. The money would tap the revenue that the federal government receives from oil and gas drilling leases, money that now goes into the federal treasury. In addition, some members of Congress were opposed to the original legislation because it took out of their hands the ability, in succeeding years, to change how the money would be targeted. Yet one of the reasons why this bill garnered such widespread support was that states knew from the outset that they would be provided a specific amount that couldn't be taken away.

Under the original legislation, Nevada stood to gain considerably, receiving $50.6 million annually over the next 15 years so local governments and the state could purchase land to create parks and other recreational uses. As Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the legislation's prime sponsor, notes, under the compromise plan there's no such guarantee. The population of Nevada, especially Las Vegas, has exploded over the past two decades. Unfortunately the amount of parks and open spaces hasn't nearly kept pace with this breakneck growth. It's too bad that the original bill, which would help ease this lack of parks and recreation areas for Nevada, won't become law.