National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 9 * May 10, 1999

---

Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story

Publisher's Perspective

Parks 1999

---

Larry Naake
NACo Executive Director

Congress is on the verge of passing landmark legislation that would improve the quality of life, enhance economic opportunity and provide meaningful opportunities for youth as an alternative to juvenile delinquency and crime.

I am talking about a new, bipartisan parks and open space initiative being considered here in the nation’s capital.

After years of working on parks issues, both here in Washington, D.C. and California, I would not normally be this confident of something this historic being passed by Congress. This is the first time in more than 20 years that Congress, both parties and both sides of the Hill are working on a proposal that has genuine support of members, conservative and liberal alike.

It is called the Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999 or CARA ’99. The Administration has developed a similar approach – the president’s Lands Legacy Initiative, and stands ready to work with the Congress to get parks legislation passed in this Congress.

CARA’99 would fully fund the "stateside" portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – a competitive grant program for local and state open space acquisition and watershed enhancement – and it would continue to fund the federal portion.

It would:

• place nearly $100 million into the Urban Parks and Recreation Recovery Act (UPARR)
• establish a state and local revenue-sharing program from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas development to mitigate the environmental effects of such activity; and
• add money for wildlife enhancement.

The House version would even add money to the Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program by using the interest from these funds to supplement PILT. All of this would be accomplished by diverting the nearly $2 billion in OCS revenues to these programs instead of the general treasury of the United States.

Other bills have been introduced that would establish different priorities and they will be part of the deliberations of the appropriate authorizing committees, but all bills attempt to meet the basic goals outlined above.

In addition to the bipartisan and the congressional/Administration support, it is important to point out that CARA ’99 has the enthusiastic backing of urban, suburban and rural forces. This unity was evident during the "Park Day" lobbying effort in Washington, D.C. on April 20th.

In this era of surpluses, as we head into the new millennium, Congress has seized the initiative and is moving forward with this new parks and open space legislation. NACo is working with the sponsors of this legislation and the committees to craft a final product that will be very positive for urban, suburban and rural counties, north, south, east and west. We have an historic opportunity; we must not let it pass.