|
|
Article: What money can buy. (Land and Water Conservation Fund)
- Article from:
- Sierra
- Article date:
- January 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Sierra Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
"What if schools got all the money they needed and the Pentagon had to hold a bake sale?" reads the old bumper sticker. Frustrated supporters of our country's park system share a similar dream. The irony is that a mechanism already exists to pay for new parklands. The federal Land and Water Conservations Fund, established 33 years ago, was designed to funnel royalties from offshore oil-and-gas leases to preserve "irresplaceable lands of natural beauty and unique recreational value." since its inception, the fund has helped acquire over 7 million acres of parkland, including Cape Cod National Seashore and Voyageurs National Park, and supported 37,000 national, state, and ...