GLOBE EDITORIAL
For land's sakeTHE US HOUSE has an opportunity this week to protect precious natural resources and eliminate a criminal waste of taxpayers' money when it takes up the appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service. It should insist that revenues from offshore oil drilling be spent for their intended purpose -- conservation of land and water -- and not diverted to the general fund. Representatives should also stop the Forest Service from building roads in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska for logging projects that return a fraction of the roads' cost in fees on timber sales.
In 1964 Congress showed great foresight in creating the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Supported by oil drilling fees, the fund provides money to preserve wildlife habitat, protect water resources, and acquire recreation areas. It also helps state and local governments support parks, playgrounds, and swimming pools. From North Adams to the Cape Cod National Seashore, this state has benefited greatly from the fund. But the appropriations bill that came out of committee last week reduces the fund to a maintenance level of $50 million with no money for major acquisitions. The House should restore President Bush's proposal for $314 million in land acquisition and state grants. Republican Representative Stave Chabot of Ohio and Democrat Robert Andrews of New Jersey also want to amend the appropriations bill to eliminate the subsidy for road building in the Tongass, the largest intact temperate rain forest in the world. In 2002 the Forest Service spent $36 million on roads and received just $1.2 million in revenues from timber companies. That meager return reflects in part the worldwide glut in the kinds of timber the Tongass yields. Such an imbalance between government investment and return is usually decried as "Soviet-style" by conservative critics, but they seem to turn a blind eye when the beneficiary is an industry that donates generously to campaign coffers. The Tongass, established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 and a paradise for hunters, fishermen, and tourists, already has 3,579 miles of timber roads that need $901 million in backlogged maintenance work. President Clinton tried to limit destruction of the Tongass by including much of it in a roadless area conservation rule, but the Bush administration has exempted 9 million Tongass acres from that protection.
At a time of record budget deficits, it makes no sense to be wasting money on new Tongass roads. As for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Congress created it 40 years ago so there would be nontax revenues for conservation even during tight budgetary times. Government should not be left without the means to protect resources and expand space for recreation. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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