Breaking News from America's Progressive Community...

1999 Releases
February
January

archives/1998
December
November
October
September
August
July
June

Making news?
E-mail us!
editor@newscenter.org

NewsCenter is a news service - providing breaking news and views for progressive-thinking Americans.

The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly.

The initiative provides guaranteed annual funding from the Land & Water Conservation Fund -- at the level envisioned when the fund was authorized several decades ago -- and other long-sought measures to protect America's public lands, wildlife, and historical resources.

"Implementation of Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 would be a dream come true for conservationists," said Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen, speaking at the Capitol Hill press conference today. Selected comments submitted by environmental leaders follow:

"This far-sighted legislation is Defenders of Wildlife's top legislative priority because it provides long-needed permanent protection for the Land and Water Conservation Fund as well as funding for endangered species recovery, restoration of public lands, ocean fish and wildlife, and native wildlife and plant programs."
-- Rodger Schlickeisen, president, Defenders of Wildlife

"Millions of acres within our national parks are still privately owned and not protected because the federal government has failed to acquire the lands America wants preserved. Resources 2000 will provide the funding, not only this year, but in years to come, to secure these treasured places for the ages."
-- Tom Kiernan, president, National Parks & Conservation Association
 

"Citizens in communities all across the country voted last fall for over a hundred ballot and bond initiatives to protect America's special places. Now it's time for our lawmakers to catch up with the American people. The Congress should act quickly to pass this popular bill."
-- Carl Pope, executive director, Sierra Club

"Sen. Boxer and Rep. Miller have outlined an inspired vision for protecting and restoring the irreplaceable elements of our heritage for the future. This bill shows that we can find ways to protect all our resources, including the ocean and its creatures, without the danger of incentives for unnecessary offshore oil drilling. We applaud their effort and look forward to working with them to ensure the vitality of our ocean and coastal resources for our children."
-- David Younkman, executive director, American Oceans Campaign

"Resources 2000 is a bold, comprehensive approach to conservation. The legislation directs money where it is desperately needed: to purchase land for bird and wildlife habitat, to help endangered species recover, and to fight sprawl. Congressman Miller and Senator Boxer are to be commended for charting the course of conservation for the next century. By providing permanent protection, our children will be able to enjoy the splendors of our land and wildlife."
-- Dan Beard, vice president for Public Policy, National Audubon Society

"Working to protect special landscapes in our national parks, forests, and refuges, and in communities across the country, we have witnessed firsthand the pressing need for reliable federal conservation funding -- and the losses that occur without that federal support. The Trust for Public Land is gratified by the well-woven fabric of resource-protecting programs contained in this bill, and we look forward to enactment of these vital provisions."
-- Will Rogers, president, Trust for Public Land

"The National Wildlife Federation's top priority for this Congress is passage of significant long-term funding for wildlife and wild places for both federal and state programs. This proposal helps set the parameters to achieve a bipartisan victory for conservation funding this year."
-- Mark Van Putten, president & CEO, National Wildlife Federation

"Now that we have successfully moved past the Cold War and large budget deficits, it is essential that we Americans invest in the stewardship of our natural resources and the sustainability of our environment for the benefit of our children and their children. Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 is a bold initiative to protect our precious natural and cultural heritage and the quality of life for all Americans. As we approach the millennium we must pass this program as our generation's legacy for the future."
-- John Adams, president, Natural Resources Defense Council

Resources 2000 provides long-overdue funding for bipartisan conservation initiatives which will help Americans protect natural beauty, the character of their communities, and their heritage as we move into the new millennium."
-- Meg Maguire, executive director/president, Scenic America

"A healthy ecosystem is the bedrock of a healthy society. The Miller/Boxer bills will help to preserve the biodiversity we need for the development of new medicines and vaccines, and safeguard the parks and recreation areas so vital to human health and well-being. PSR is pleased to add its voice to the chorus of support for this important legislation."
-- Robert K. Musil, Ph.D., executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility

"We applaud Rep. Miller and Sen. Boxer for their effort to reinvigorate chronically under funded land acquisition programs and provide much-needed funds to protect urban areas and open spaces and conserve fish and wildlife. Resources 2000 will provide a substantial down payment in the effort to preserve and protect our natural heritage while protecting our coastal areas from increased offshore drilling."
-- Gene Karpinski, executive director, U.S. PIRG

"America's Resources 2000 would significantly help our lands, oceans, and creatures in the next millennium. Rep. Miller and Sen. Boxer have listened to the demand of the American people and are pushing for critical, much-needed funding for the environment."
-- Brent Blackwelder, president, Friends of the Earth

"It is vital that Congress adequately fund the programs that care for the public's lands, whether in parks, national forests, wildlife preserves, or historic sites. Without adequate funding, federal stewardship of the public's lands will fall further and further behind, and America's natural heritage will be lost to future generations. Congress ought to lay down the law: federal lands must be kept safe, even added to, instead of treated as a national yard sale for wealthy corporations to raid for cheap resources. The Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 bill sends that message loud and clear."
-- Philip E. Clapp, president, National Environmental Trust

"We welcome Rep. George Miller's proposal that joins with the Administration's initiative and the previously introduced Senate and House bills, calling for full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and much-needed support for fish and wildlife to state agencies. We are especially encouraged by the expressed commitment of all parties to work cooperatively on these proposals with all those who have a stake in the nation's natural resources to craft a landmark conservation bill in this Congress."
-- Paul Hansen, executive director, Izaak Walton League of America

------

STATEMENT OF RODGER SCHLICKEISEN,
PRESIDENT - DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE
February 23, 1999
Capitol Hill Press Conference of Honorable George Miller & Honorable Barbara Boxer

Good Morning, I'm Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. I know I speak for many conservationists in thanking Representative Miller and Senator Boxer for the opportunity to be here today and for their outstanding environmental leadership over the years. The initiative that they will introduce today -- Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 -- is bold and visionary.

Just a few weeks ago, President Clinton and Vice President Gore took an historic step in proposing the Lands Legacy Initiative. For the the FY 2000 budget, for the first time in any Administration, the Clinton Administration requested the full annual amount authorized for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The Administration proposed more than $1 billion in appropriations for the LWCF and related programs to protect species and habitat -- including both terrestrial and oceanic resources --and to provide recreational opportunities. President Clinton also pledged to work with Congress to provide a permanent revenue stream for the Lands Legacy Initiative and related programs beginning in FY 2001.

Rep. Miller's and Senator Boxer's far-sighted legislation answers the President's call and expands upon it in some ways. It provides permanent funding and it encompasses a land and ocean legacy for the 21st century. Defenders of Wildlife wholeheartedly endorses the bill.

In fact, this legislation is our top legislative priority for two reasons: first, it guarantees the level of permanent annual funding for wildlife and wildlife habitat vital to meeting the challenges of the next century. Second, it dramatically enhances state efforts to protect a diversity of species. Not only does this bill provide for permanent funding for the LWCF, it also includes other measures to protect America's public lands, help endangered species recover, protect ocean fish and wildlife, and boost urban recreation and native wildlife and plant conservation programs.

As former associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, I know that full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been a priority for the environmental community for many years. When Congress created this landmark program in 1964 and subsequently authorized it at $900 million in 1978, it made a promise to the American people to reinvest royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling into acquisition and permanent protection of key land, water, and open-space resources. But Congress made a mistake by requiring that the actual spending by the trust fund be subject to the annual appropriations process -- with the result that LWCF-funded spending has generally been only a fraction of its authorized level. Thus the original promise has been broken repeatedly.

The Miller-Boxer bill would correct that mistake. The bill would renew the promise made to the American people three decades ago by enabling federal agencies to fund a long list of backlogged national wildlife refuge, park, and forest land acquisitions and by allowing state and local governments to acquire long-needed open space and habitat areas.

Moreover, unlike other legislative proposals, the Miller/Boxer legislation would not provide incentives for unnecessary offshore oil drilling and would not target funds disproportionately to states with a lot of offshore drilling. Funds would be distributed more equitably to all states for a variety of land and ocean conservation programs. Unlike other proposals, the Miller and Boxer legislation ensures that wildlife funds would be targeted at conservation of all native species and biodiversity. Other proposals also contain unacceptable restrictions on federal LWCF acquisitions.

Under the bill that will be introduced today, the $900 million would be split evenly between the federal and state portions of LWCF; and more than a billion dollars of additional funding would assist ocean fish and wildlife, urban parks, historic preservation, restoration of degraded public lands, endangered species recovery, nongame wildlife, and forest and farmland programs. The funding package totals $2.3 billion.

These programs meet a number of critical needs. As we move into a time when our remaining wildlands and wildlife habitat are threatened by ever-expanding sprawl and development, the bill provides a menu of options for providing habitat protection.

For example, Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 will help satisfy a need recognized almost 20 years ago when Congress authorized the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1980 (FWCA), but then did not fund it. And by funding and amending FWCA, this legislation will give the states money to implement the comprehensive conservation planning needed to protect all native fish and wildlife and their habitats. This measure could go a long way toward preventing future endangerment of species.

In addition to providing LWCF acquisition funds, the Miller and Boxer legislation facilitates purchase of easements to help private landowners protect farmland and forest land from development. Moreover, the Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Fund in the legislation creates a dedicated source of funding for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to use in implementing a private landowner incentive program for the recovery of species and their habitats.

Recent reports by Defenders of Wildlife and the National Biological Service have warned that our nation's ecosystems are in serious decline and must be conserved before any additional deterioration occurs. In particular, the Defenders report identified the 10 states with ecosystems most at risk: Florida, California, Hawaii, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, and Tennessee. The Miller-Boxer bills will give these states the necessary funding to help arrest and, we hope, someday reverse ecosystem decline.

The Miller-Boxer legislation includes substantive measures long sought by conservationists. These measures represent values deeply held by the public. As Americans, we strongly identify ourselves with the nation's land and wildlife. The purpose of this bill represents nothing less than preserving the heart of America's land and wildlife resources and the history and culture that arose from our relationship with them.

Permanent Protection for America's Resources 2000 reflects a vision of the kind of world that we want to leave to our children. Passage of the bill would be a great step toward leaving a rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage to future generations.

###