U.S. Budget Offers $1 Million for Land

President Clinton is offering a $1- million slice of his 1998 budget proposal for the National Park Service to buy more land in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Though tiny compared to some past years, the million-dollar promise delighted park Supt. Arthur Eck. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area received nothing for land acquisitions in the current fiscal year, Eck said.

“A million dollars can be extremely helpful,” he said. Eck would not commit the money to any specific project.

“There are still more needs than there are funds. I would rather not raise up false hopes.”

As proposed, the size of the financial pie for National Park Service land purchases is much smaller than what was budgeted in the past year. Clinton is proposing $36.1 million for new purchases nationwide, one-third less than this year’s $53.9 million.

Clinton’s proposal, which will be debated--and probably altered--by Congress later this year, requests that the $36.1 million go to only 14 parks.

“I am extremely pleased that the president recognizes the importance of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and has decided to make funding for land purchases in the park a priority,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) in a prepared statement.

“Although Congress did not give the recreation area any money to buy land this year, the administration’s request demonstrates the president’s continuous commitment to seek appropriations for land acquisitions there,” said Sherman, who along with Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt lobbied for the Santa Monicas to be included in the proposal.

The offering is meager compared to the heyday of the early ‘90s, when the Santa Monicas received $62 million in a four-year period to build the 21,000-acre recreation area, which stretches from the Hollywood Bowl to Point Mugu.