Public Lands
We are grateful to The Times for mentioning the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund in your Nov. 4 editorial.
Regrettably, hardly anyone knows about this excellent program, which helps consolidate our national parks and other priceless public lands that are so valuable to America’s future. Lack of public awareness of the LWCF allows Congress to divert these special funds from their rightful purpose without the angry outcry that might otherwise be heard. Nearly $1 billion is collected annually from offshore oil revenue specifically for public lands, but only a paltry 15% gets used as authorized. Here in Southern California, where our concentrated population is the largest in the country, the consolidation of outstanding public lands is an especially urgent need.
If this neglected program gets back on track, then the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust may not have to work so hard to save the San Bernardino National Forest from fatal fragmentation.
CAROL PEDDER, President
San Bernardino Mountains
Land Trust
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