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Eye On Washington

Three Cheers for... Don Young?

This fall, five years after our party took control of Congress, they finally decided to allow the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to be used as intended. While it’s not exactly the full $900 million that was supposed to be spent each year to acquire high-quality natural land and open space, nobody is sneezing at the $465 million that has finally been released.

Why it took Congress so long to act on something so popular with the American people (as evidenced by years of polls, including the two new ones cited in the last Green Elephant) is beside the point. But over the decades, billions of dollars earned from royalties on offshore oil and gas have flowed into the LWCF, ostensibly to be used for open space acquisition but in fact siphoned off for pet projects in congressional districts.

Had that money been used as plan-ned, our country would now be far richer in new national parks, wildlife refuges and recreational areas. Unfortunately, the LWCF has been an irresistible pot of gold for federal law- makers looking to fund pork-barrel projects for their districts without raising taxes to pay for them.

It took an unusual combination of forces to change attitudes about the LWCF. Perhaps it was GOP leaders’ growing awareness that Americans actually want more public land, not less. Maybe it was their razor-thin majority looking toward next fall’s election. Whatever the reason, two of the oddest bedfellows imaginable--Don Young (R, AK) and George Miller (D, CA), current and former chairmen of the House Resources committee respectively--worked together to produce a bill providing for full funding (all $900 million!) for LWCF.

The Conservation and Reinvestment Act (CARA, H.R. 701), that joint Young-Miller bill, passed out of the committee last fall and will move on to the floor of the House for consideration in next spring’s session.

In Praise of Brian Bilbray

REP is pleased to recognize Congressman Brian Bilbray (R, CA) for his role in helping to create a new 18,500 acre wilderness area on Otay Mountain near San Diego.

Not only did Bilbray’s action safeguard a near-pristine part of San Diego County and protect an array of native species, it also added a significant parcel to the area’s Multiple Species Conservation Preserve. We’re proud of Bilbray for cooperating with the Clinton administration to bring some- thing good to San Diego County.

As REP Director Dr. Phil Pryde wrote in a letter to the congressman on REP’s behalf:

“Would that everyone in the Congress could demonstrate the same spirit of positive cooperation on environmental issues that you did in this project! Our heartfelt thanks for your efforts on behalf of the Otay Mountain Wilderness Area.”

Roosevelt Sends in the Marines!

OK, so it was a slow quarter in Washington, despite the fact that the fall session ran on and on and almost kept folks in Congress from going home for the Thanksgiving feast. During the slow time, we came upon a little historical tale that we think is worth repeating.

According to a report on Midway Island in the American Birding Association’s newsletter, the fact that there is still a nesting population of “goony birds” (Laysan albatross) may well be due to every Republican’s favorite environmental hero: T. R.

Here’s what the ABA reported:

“Earlier, the island’s albatross population had been nearly extirpated by poachers harvesting eggs and feathers. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt dispatched a contingent of Marines to Midway to save the birds.”

Awright! Not only did T. R. save the birds, but now we’ve got the Marines on our side! We at REP can hardly wait ‘til the next anti-enviro wacko chimes in with a comment about wimpy, do-gooder bird-watchers.

Proud to Praise 'Em!

We conservation-minded Republicans have a great group of our own kind to thank for killing an absurd Interior Appropriations rider proposed by Senator Robert Byrd (D, WV). Byrd’s rider would have allowed mining companies to dump their toxic byproducts at will in the rivers, streams and valleys of his home state... in clear violation of the Clean Water Act. Talk about a payback to special interests!

Although the Senate passed Byrd’s rider by a vote of 56-33, the House never even brought it up for consideration and the President vowed to veto any legislation which contained it.

The Clean Water Network, which had lobbied hard against this disastrous rider, specifically credited a number of Republicans with causing its defeat, including the following congressmen, all of whom signed a letter asking the President to veto any legislation that contained this rider.

REP thanks them all!

CA Brian Bilbray, Tom Campbell, Steve Horn, Steven Kuykenall
CT Nancy Johnson, Christopher Shays
DE Mike Castle
FL Mark Foley
IA Jim Leach
IL J udy Biggert, John Porter
MD Wayne Gilchrest, Connie Morella
MN Jim Ramstad
NJ Bob Franks
NY Sherwood Boehlert, Ben Gilman, Sue Kelly, Rick Lazio, Jack Quinn

Praise is also due to eight Republican senators who voted against Byrd’s rider:

DE William Roth ME Susan Collins
IL Peter Fitzgerald ME Olympia Snowe
IN Richard Lugar RI Lincoln Chafee
KS Sam Brownback VT Jim Jeffords