Office of the Deputy Secretary

For Release September 27, 2000

Contact: Noel Gerson (202) 208-6444
Stanley Young (916) 653-5792

Department of the Interior Announces 17 Open Space
Protection Grants in California

Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes today announced that the National Park Service has approved $2,686,835 for 17 Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants for outdoor recreation projects in California. $2.1 million of this funding will be used towards the purchase of 2,675 acres for additions to Anza Borrego Desert and Cuyamaca Rancho State Parks. The total cost to acquire those properties is $5.5 million. The other 15 projects will receive between $30,000 - $100,000.

In addition to funding federal acquisition of authorized national parks and other conservation and recreation areas, the LWCF also provides matching funds to state agencies and local communities for acquisition, development, and conservation of parks and open space. Until this fiscal year, however, Congress had not appropriated any funds for the LWCF state grant program in five years.

"The LWCF helps to support federal protection of natural treasures, but also to help states and communities protect urban parks, farmland, forests, battlefields, coastland, and other green spaces," said Deputy Secretary Hayes. "To ensure strong conservation efforts in the years ahead, the President has called for the creation of a permanent endowment to protect America's critical lands. The Clinton-Gore Administration is committed to helping communities save precious open space."

The National Park Service has a total of $40 million in FY 2000 funds to administer for state and local projects, and applications are coming in to the states and territories.

"Governor Davis is delighted that the Clinton-Gore Administration is matching the new funds he has provided for California Parks with these significant expansions of some of our best loved parks," said Mary Nichols, California Secretary for Resources. "California is fully behind the President's efforts to create a permanent fund for land care."

Congress enacted the LWCF in 1964 to provide conservation funds derived from receipts from oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Although the law authorizes up to $900 million a year in LWCF funding, Congress most often has appropriated nowhere near that amount.

Information on each of the projects is attached on following page: