[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 23, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PRESERVING OUR COUNTRY'S IMPORTANT NATURAL AND RECREATIONAL RESOURCES

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                           HON. BRAD SHERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 23, 1997

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my deep concern that 
revenues deposited into the Land and Water Conservation Fund [LWCF] are 
not being spent as they should. Congress created this fund many years 
ago to pay for the purchase of critical Federal park and recreation 
lands, but now only spends a small portion of the fund's annual 
revenues for this purpose.
  The Land and Water Conservation Fund was established in 1965 in order 
to provide a permanent annual funding source for high priority land 
investments that would help to conserve our Nation's natural resources 
and ensure our ability to meet Americans' recreational needs. At first 
the fund's revenues came from proceeds generated by the sales of 
surplus Federal real property, motorboat fuel taxes, and fees for 
recreational use of Federal lands. Then in 1968, Congress decided to 
substantially increase the LWCF's revenues by directing into the fund 
money yielded from Outer Continental Shelf mineral leasing receipts. As 
a result, Federal returns from the exploitation of one key natural 
resource, namely mineral products removed from the Outer Continental 
Shelf areas, are designated to conserve other key natural resources, 
namely public parks, wildlife habitats, and other recreational 
resources.
  The LWCF presently receives $900 million each year, nearly all of 
which comes from OCS receipts, and until 1981 the vast majority of the 
fund's holdings were spent on Federal land acquisition. However, over 
the last decade and a half, Congress has allocated less and less LWCF 
money for its intended purpose and has, instead, used the fund to 
offset the Federal deficit. Though in fiscal year 1978 over $800 
million was directed from the LWCF to buy land, in fiscal year 1997 
only $149 million, or 14 percent, of the LWCF was allocated to buy park 
and recreational property. Since such small percentages of the fund 
have been used to buy land in recent years, the unspent revenues have 
accumulated and now total more than $11 billion.
  While we wait to balance the budget, we are losing many opportunities 
to acquire and protect environmentally sensitive lands and areas that 
are critical to our present and future recreational needs. Many 
important lands will soon be lost to real estate development and 
industrial uses, and unless we purchase them now, we will never have 
another opportunity to preserve them.
  In honor of Earth Day, I would like to call on Congress to allocate 
this year's LWCF revenues for their intended purpose, to preserve in 
public ownership our country's most important natural and recreational 
resources.

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