Land and Water Conservation Fund under attack from Republicans in Congress

The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which Congress created in 1965, helped pay for this open space, along with large swaths of land in other areas across the country. But there is a fight looming in Washington as Congress plans to drastically cut the program's budget, and President Barack Obama, who had accepted cuts in the past, appears ready to oppose them. The White House has warned it will veto the House Interior spending bill, in part because of its cuts to the conservation fund. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a telephone interview that the bill would bring conservation "as close to zero as it's been in modern times." The fund is supposed to receive $900 million each fiscal year out of U.S. offshore oil and gas revenue to pay for federal land acquisitions. But with the exception of fiscal 1998, its funding has consistently fallen well short of that mark. The 2011 operating plan provided $300.5 million, and although Obama asked for $900 million for fiscal 2012, the pending House appropriations bill for Interior allocates just under $95 million. Now, the program's backers are launching a grassroots drive to enlist Republican support for increased funding. Late last month, the Bull Moose Sportsmen's Alliance posted two billboards aimed at Colorado Republicans: one in Grand Junction praised Rep. Scott Tipton for adding $5 million to the program through a floor amendment, while another in Colorado Springs bashed Rep. Doug Lamborn for trying to zero out the program...more

Boo on Tipton and an Atta Boy for Lamborn.

The feds own 655 million acres, nearly 30% of the land in the U.S.  That's a land mass larger than France, Germany, Spain, Portugal & the United Kingdom...combined.

They can't manage what they've got and if there is a need to acquire environmentally sensitive or historically important land they can do so by exchange.

No Net Loss of Private Property used to be a battle cry and it needs to be raised again.