Less Here Than Meets the Ears

George Bush sounds good on the environment. Nobody can quarrel with planting a billion trees, giving the Environmental Protection Agency Cabinet status or launching a program called “America the Beautiful.” But the President sounds good mostly because the record of the past decade was so dismal. His actions leave a whole lot to be desired.

Consider his new “America the Beautiful” campaign to expand the national parks and improve recreation facilities. So it would--but not by much. The new budget provides $250 million for land acquisition, an increase of only $35 million. Since the average since 1980 has been $230 million, Bush’s plan is even lower in constant dollars.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund gets $900 million a year, but most of that is being raided to offset the deficit. In 1987, a presidential commission proposed that the fund be made a true trust fund, producing $1 billion a year exclusively for land and recreation purposes. Reagan ignored it. Bush should endorse such legislation now to implement it.

He also showed the right instincts in moving against that zany U.S. Forest Service timber sales program. (It was losing money because it was spending more on sales, including road construction, than it was getting from the lumber companies.) But his corrective order, which was a mere test program, affected only nine national forests. Better to decree that all future logging sales to private lumber firms must at least break even.

The test plan included $10 million for recreation programs in the nine forests. But that small change might not even cover the cost of reopening the national forest campgrounds in California that have been closed because of budget shortages. Again, Bush should support a guaranteed fund that will begin to meet recreation needs in national forests and parks.

Here are just a few of the other actions Bush should take:

--Provide permanent protection for sensitive ocean areas from further offshore oil leasing and drilling.

--Support an overhaul of the absurdly antiquated Mining Law of 1872 that allows exploiters to grab title to federal land for virtually nothing.

--Endorse the proposed California desert protection bill sponsored by Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and Rep. Mel Levine (D-Calif.).

--Revive the modest excise tax that the Administration was going to propose on recreational vehicles and outdoor equipment to help finance parks and recreation programs. The idea was dropped out of fear that the proposed “user fees” would violate Bush’s no-new-taxes pledge.

Bush has made a good start on some neglected environmental issues. But real progress will require much bolder action and vision.