[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5437-S5438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GREAT OUTDOORS WEEK

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I would like to chat a little bit about 
recreation in America today and announce that Great Outdoors Week for 
1997 began on Monday of this week.
  From America's vast forests to her mighty rivers, to her majestic 
mountains, plains, and valleys, there is the recognition that this 
Nation is truly blessed with national and natural beauty beyond 
comparison. As a consequence, it is no wonder that our Nation and our 
national consciousness are defined in no small part by the great 
outdoors that we all enjoy.
  Coming from my State of Alaska--which is, at least as far as I am 
concerned, America's premier outdoor State--I have lived near and 
experienced some of nature's greatest handiwork. I have fished, hunted, 
sailed, hiked, and camped in probably the best places on Earth.
  So it is with great pleasure that I come before my colleagues to 
announce Great Outdoors Week for 1997.
  The recreation community is in Washington this week to host a number 
of activities to remind those of us inside the beltway that outdoor 
recreation is a good thing for people, for communities, for the 
economy, and for conservation. Great Outdoors Week will bring together 
many people and groups who really care about America's great outdoors. 
Federal, State, and local officials, recreation enthusiasts, outdoor 
media, recreation associations, and the recreation industry will all 
take part in the events scheduled for this week.
  I met last night with the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association--
the manufacturers and the suppliers of recreation vehicles. There were 
some 250 to 300 people in the Russell rotunda at a very, very 
outstanding reception to kick off Great Outdoors Week for 1997.
  Mr. President, as on outdoorsman and chairman of the Senate committee 
with responsibility for our Nation's public lands, I am also going to 
take an active role in the other events scheduled for this week.
  The work of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources touches the 
lives of Americans in many ways but few ways more visible than in our 
oversight of the Nation's great outdoors. Great Outdoors Week really 
gives us an opportunity to focus on the value of recreation in our 
lives, and how we can do a better job of encouraging people of all ages 
to enjoy America's natural and national splendor.
  The great outdoors is the main focus of our national recreation 
initiative. The acronym is REC, and it stands for three goals: 
reinvigorate, enhance, and conserve.
  To reinvigorate and rebuild our national parks, forests, and other 
Federal lands that provide diverse recreation opportunities.
  To enhance the visits Americans make to our public land legacy 
through improved access, facilities, and services.
  To conserve America's natural resources that provide recreation 
opportunities, particularly through wildlife habitat restoration and 
protection. It also includes areas in our urban centers with strategies 
to protect open space, rivers, lakes, and to link parks and trails.
  Last year, we passed the largest parks and conservation public lands 
bill that has passed this body since the 1940's. Containing 119 pieces 
of legislation, the bill increased park boundaries, designated 
historical trails and wild and scenic rivers, protected sensitive 
lands, and benefited virtually every State in this Nation.
  It also protected the Presidio in San Francisco, one of the finest 
recreation areas in our country, by establishing a new management 
system which takes advantage of private sector expertise, contribution, 
and finance.
  It will also create the National Recreation Lakes Study Commission. 
This is a nine-member panel which will examine the demand for 
recreation at federally managed lakes and reservoirs and help develop 
plans with the private sector to maximize recreational opportunities. A 
report is due next year, and we may write legislation to increase 
opportunities in this area.
  Thankfully, after I wrote to the President last week, he told me that 
he will name the remaining four members of the nine-member commission 
this week so that they can get down to work.
  On April 25 of this year, we held a seminar on outdoor recreation 
trends and benefits.
  This Wednesday we will hold an oversight hearing on the stateside 
program of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. We will hold 
additional oversight hearings on other aspects of the outdoor 
recreation capabilities. At least one of them will be a field hearing 
out West. The committee report, hopefully, will follow.
  Putting our heads together, we can decide what the Federal Government

[[Page S5438]]

can and should do to reinvigorate, to enhance, and to conserve 
America's outdoors.
  Our national parks--our Nation's crown jewels--are losing some of 
their luster. We need to ensure that all Americans can enjoy and be 
proud of our parks system for years to come.
  We have at least an $8 billion backlog in unfunded projects and 
programs.
  Yellowstone needs about $300 million in road repairs.
  Yosemite needs $178 million in repairs after January's floods.
  Each year, another 1 percent of the National Parks Service roads fall 
from fair to poor or failing.
  We are working to leave a legacy everyone can be proud of--a new, 
reinvigorated, world-class National Park System.
  Mr. President, an expanded fee demonstration program, major 
concession reform, a bonding initiative, and additional private-sector 
sponsorships are all under consideration in this Congress. Our system 
of parks includes State and local parks as well. Capital needs of State 
and local recreation systems for 1995-99 are over $27 billion, 
according to the National Recreation and Parks Association, but we have 
a problem. The stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund has been shut 
down.
  Over 30 years ago, in a bipartisan effort, Congress and the President 
created the Land and Water Conservation Fund referred to as the LWCF. 
It is funded primarily by offshore oil and gas revenues which now 
exceed $3 billion. My committee has authorized land and water 
conservation funding to the year 2015 with an annual ceiling of $900 
million.
  The LWCF stateside program promotes a unique partnership among 
Federal, State, and local governments. It provides matching grants that 
enable State and local governments to create recreation facilities, 
parks, and playgrounds. Because they are matching grants, they double 
the impact.
  The stateside LWCF program has helped finance 37,500 national parks 
and recreation projects--campgrounds, trails, playgrounds, recreation 
centers, and gyms. It has also helped in my State of Alaska. We have 
had a number of very effective State and local parks which received a 
stateside LWCF grant. The demand continues to increase. As a matter of 
fact, in fiscal year 1995 over $600 million was requested.
  But I want to explain very briefly, Mr. President, that the recent 
balanced budget agreement between that the administration and the 
congressional budget negotiators provided $700 million over 5 years for 
the Federal side of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That is the 
portion of the fund used for land acquisition by the Federal land 
management agencies. The administration wants $315 million of that to 
buy Headwaters Forest and the New World Mine. This is not what LWCF was 
designed to do. The remaining $385 million, according to the 
administration, would be spent for Federal land purchases. That is 
hardly a State matching program. This means the stateside matching land 
and water conservation fund program would still remain unfunded.
  So what would Americans get for their $700 million? More Federal land 
acquisitions over the next 5 years chosen by politicians in Washington, 
DC, rather than the people. State and local recreation projects, the 
ones closest to the people, get nothing, and that is too bad because 
those are matching funds and we get twice the bang for the buck. We 
need to save the stateside Land and Water Conservation Fund program and 
I have asked appropriators to provide some money to keep the matching 
grant program alive.
  When Congress authorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund, it had 
two parts. One part dealt with Federal acquisitions. The other provided 
matching grants for State and local governments to purchase and develop 
parks and recreation facilities. The administration is trying to 
abolish the second half, and Congress should simply not let that 
happen. In fiscal years 1996 and 1997, Congress and the administration 
simply zeroed out those funds.
  Mr. President, let me show you a couple of charts, and I will 
conclude my remarks. This chart shows the Land and Water Conservation 
Fund authorizations and appropriations. As one can see, the stateside 
LWCF appropriations in green have dramatically decreased. Of course, 
the authorizations have gone way up. What we have here is a dropoff 
from 1983 to 1995 down to 1996 where there is zero money provided for 
stateside LWCF matching grants. That is probably the greatest single 
significance of what the Federal role is. It is in matching, if you 
will, so that Federal appropriations can come on and the priorities can 
be addressed in an appropriate manner that represent the will and 
attitudes of States and local communities.
  There is just one other chart that I want to show, and that is the 
receipts. Where does the money come from? It comes from a dedicated 
fund, the Outer Continental Shelf areas where revenues now exceed more 
than $3 billion a year. There is very little from recreation fees. 
There is some from the motor fuel tax and surplus property sales. The 
funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund comes from offshore 
revenues, but the Appropriations Committee has seen fit to use those 
funds for other expenditures.
  So, Mr. President, during Great Outdoors Week and every other week of 
the year, I ask that we all remember the value of outdoor recreation to 
Americans. We are blessed with a great natural bounty. It is our duty 
to conserve it. As a consequence, I urge my colleagues to reflect on 
the necessity of having a meaningful stateside Land and Water 
Conservation Fund program which would provide matching grants 
benefiting the States and allowing the priorities at hand to be met.
  Mr. President, I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.

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