National Park Area May Get $3.3 Million
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area would receive $3.3 million to buy land and make improvements under legislation that advanced Friday.
A total of $2 million would be spent to widen the 65-mile Backbone Trail and another $1.345 million would be used to improve roads, parking and restrooms and build a small amphitheater for educational programs in Solstice Canyon.
The bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives provides the Interior Department with $300 million less than was budgeted for 2000-01 and $1.7 billion less than the amount requested by President Clinton, according to the Sierra Club.
“At this stage, things are reasonably good for us locally, but it’s not a terribly good bill for the country,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) said Friday from his Washington office.
Even though the bill provides more than half of the money requested for the Santa Monica Mountains, Sherman said he voted against it because it contained certain anti-environmental items, such as delaying the National Forest Planning Process and blocking funding for the federal government to combat global climate change.
Sherman expects funding for the Santa Monica Mountains will be increased by the Senate, which votes on the bill in July. House and Senate conference committee members will then work out final language for the appropriations bill, which could be finalized by September.
“It’s not over yet, but it’s looking good so far,” said Arthur E. Eck, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
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