[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 6 (Monday, February 9, 1998)]
[Page 181]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Land and Water Conservation Fund Acquisitions

February 2, 1998

    Last spring, in concluding an historic balanced budget agreement 
with the Congress, one of my highest priorities was ensuring the funds 
needed to continue our efforts to protect America's natural treasures. 
With those funds now appropriated, I am pleased that today Secretaries 
Babbitt and Glickman are transmitting to Congress a list of sites that 
are particularly precious to Americans and deserving of our stewardship.
    Each of the 100 sites on this list represents an important piece of 
America's natural and historic legacy. With these acquisitions, we will 
put the finishing touches on the renowned Appalachian Trail and secure 
critical winter range for Yellowstone's bison and elk. We will rebuild 
salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest and protect an ancient caldera in 
New Mexico that is home to one of the country's largest elk herds. We 
will preserve Civil War battlefields where Americans fought and died. We 
will safeguard vital swaths of this great land literally from coast to 
coast.
    I am extremely proud of our success in preserving Yellowstone, the 
Everglades, Lake Tahoe, and the red rock canyons of Utah. The budget I 
submit today to Congress--the first balanced budget in a generation--
will allow us to save even more of America's natural and historic 
treasures. I am confident that with the bipartisan support of Congress, 
we can continue not only to protect but to restore nature's magnificent 
gifts. Together, we can assure that future generations know and enjoy 
this land in all its true splendor.