Promise That Requires Mending

In 1964, a farsighted Congress created the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The rationale was that the American people should benefit in return for allowing publicly owned oil resources to be commercially depleted. Congress promised that from the $2.4 billion collected in federal oil lease revenues each year, $900 million would go to buy parks and build trails and recreational facilities.

The fund helped in the acquisition of more than 7 million acres of parkland, but the agreement has been broken. The current Congress should fix it. The fund now gets less than $200 million annually on average for parkland, about $700 million below the sum intended. Congress has diverted the rest to reduce the federal deficit.

This program should be revitalized. In California alone, the fund has permitted key purchases and improvements at the Redwood National Park, Point Reyes and the Santa Monica Mountains. But pressing needs in every state continue to outstrip the fund’s meager appropriations. Although a Senate proposal would put up that $700 million next year, the House has balked. House leaders should reconsider when the appropriation comes up again next month.