Latest Parkland Standoff Offers a Lesson to Washington : Government should emphasize promising modern concepts

Federal resource officials might be forgiven for grumbling that no good deal goes unpunished. No sooner do they shake hands with representatives of Pacific Lumber Co., agreeing to a swap of its old-growth forest land for cash and less valuable federal acreage elsewhere, than negotiations turn rocky on a bid to purchase the extensive holdings of another private landowner, this time within the new Mojave National Preserve.

The Department of the Interior has sought to acquire private property within the preserve and surrounding wilderness since the Desert Protection Act was passed in 1994. But a deal to buy 285,000 acres owned by the Catellus Development Corp.--the largest single proposed purchase--stalled when Catellus learned that the $36 million it sought from the feds had been earmarked for a much smaller acquisition, Pacific Lumber’s Headwaters Forest acreage and its stand of ancient redwoods.

Federal officials insist that they will not have to choose between preserving Headwaters or the Mojave. Indeed, negotiations with Catellus have resumed, and both sides report progress toward an agreement, albeit one that encompasses considerably less land than originally contemplated: 100,000 acres, all outside the national park boundaries.

Meanwhile, Catellus has said it will begin mineral exploration and mapping for subdivisions on its Mojave holdings. Clearly, mining and real estate development are at odds with Congress’ goals for the desert wilderness. Catellus’ threats may up the ante on any final deal, to the company’s benefit. But a deal should be struck.

It seems Catellus may have learned from Pacific Lumber’s example. The timber company’s threats to begin logging in its old-growth forest near Eureka no doubt helped boost the federal/state offer to $380 million in real estate and cash.

The Interior Department is involved in more than a hundred of these so-called asset exchanges each year. Some are straight land swaps; in others there are payments of cash along with land. Most of the deals involve small private tracts within the boundaries of existing public holdings. Only a handful generate the heat or headlines of Headwaters or Mojave. But those high-profile deals, along with anxious, last-ditch federal efforts this year to block a gold mine on the borders of Yellowstone National Park and to prevent construction of a mammoth coal mine in Utah’s wilderness, should encourage Congress to devote more funding to land swaps.

However, to avoid bidding wars over cherished land parcels, federal state and local officials should also give renewed attention to preventive ecosystem management. Such planning to manage and preserve public/private open spaces that share common vegetation and climate has occurred in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento Delta, the Pacific Northwest forests, the Everglades in south Florida. The concept has also been used to protect endangered species in San Diego and Orange counties. These efforts have yielded regionwide agreements, pacts that may help avoid future developer ultimatums and big-ticket swaps.

Congress could also help by revitalizing the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. Royalties from federal offshore oil drilling leases go to this fund, and during the 1970s and 1980s Congress appropriated $400 million to $500 million of this money annually for land acquisition. In recent years, however, withdrawals have been redirected mostly to deficit reduction, and relatively little remains in the fund. That practice should be reconsidered in order to preserve the public’s legitimate interest in natural resources.