Funds to Buy Lands for Public

Your Nov. 4 editorial, “Latest Parkland Standoff Offers a Lesson to Washington,” put the efforts to protect the Headwaters Forest in perspective. The harsh reality is that when it comes to the acquisition of private lands for public purposes, there are simply only so much money and trade lands to go around.

What has been lost in the outcry over Headwaters is just how significant an effort was made by the federal government, the state of California and Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protect the emerald heart of Headwaters Forest. At the same time the deal was being negotiated and $380 million in assets committed to Headwaters, Congress was putting the finishing touches on the FY 1997 Interior appropriations bill. This bill made just $148 million available through the beleaguered Land and Water Conservation Fund to the National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Fish and Wildlife Service for land acquisition nationwide--far less than half the amount applied to Headwaters. As a result, many natural areas in California will remain unprotected despite their being owned by willing sellers. Places like the Giacomini Ranch and its critical wetlands at Point Reyes National Seashore, the Rutherford Ranch in San Diego County with its oak woodlands and native grasslands, and open space in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

During the next five years, these types of budgetary squeezes will intensify as efforts to balance the budget continue and overall federal spending decreases. We as a nation must look for creative and visionary ecosystem-level protection and at the same time renew our commitment to a strong Land and Water Conservation Fund.

JAY THOMAS WATSON

Regional Director

Wilderness Society, San Francisco