Austin American Statesman
www.austin360.com

A landmark conservation bill

Editorial Board
Austin American-Statesman
Tuesday, August 1, 2000

What will be the Texas legacy for future generations?

Will there be healthy estuaries along the coast; open space and parks for an increasingly urban population to seek refuge from frenetic city life; animals and plants protected early enough so they don't become endangered; and family farms and ranches intact or broken into ever-smaller parcels for subdivisions?

Congress offers a key to a rosier future for Texas. Last week the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved a landmark conservation bill that could dramatically aid Texas with stewardship of its land and natural heritage. Before Congress adjourns in October, the Senate will be asked to support the Conservation and Reinvestment Act. Our hope is that Texas Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison and Phil Gramm will vote for the bill and thus the optimal Texas legacy. The House approved the bill in May.

As American-Statesman reporter Ralph K.M. Haurwitz and photographer David Kennedy pointed out in a series earlier this year, Texas is failing to safeguard its irreplaceable treasures. Public spaces delight but amount to a spit of land when compared with the size of the state. More than 120 of the state's 1,200 species with backbones are threatened or endangered, while roughly half the state's bird species have declined in the past 30 years. The state ranks 49th in per-capita spending for state parks. Development gobbles farm and ranchlands by 1,000 acres every business day.

Meanwhile, Texas is expected to double its population to 40 million in 50 years. The state isn't keeping up with that growth. It isn't acquiring important land and water resources.

The federal conservation bill would inject dollars into the quest for preserving America's natural heritage. From offshore oil and gas leases primarily in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska, money would be used to create a $3 billion-a-year fund for 15 years. Texas' share would be roughly $225 million a year -- outstanding for a state that has contributed nonrenewable resources for fueling the country's economy and could use a return for the environment. The money could go to specific projects such as tidal marsh restoration; incentives for private landowners to conserve wildlife habit; and in matching funds for state, county and city parks.

As Andrew Sansom, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, wrote this year: "From the state auditor to Texas A&M University, various authorities have concluded in recent years that Texas parks are underfunded. Governor Bush and the Texas Legislature are aware of this problem and have helped by authorizing $60 million for major park repairs in 1997 and $15 million for state parks in the last session. But the reality is, while Texas ideally should be looking at ways to acquire new public lands now to meet current and future demands, fiscal realities have forced us to focus on upkeep of what we already have."

In Sansom's view, the bill would address the problem head on by reinvesting federal offshore oil and gas lease revenue to benefit the environment. "(It) would reinvigorate the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, a now-dormant funding source that once helped create dozens of state parks like Palo Duro Canyon and Enchanted Rock, as well as local parks across Texas," he said. "It would fund tidal marsh and dune restoration, seagrass conservation, and beach cleanup. It would proactively help keep common wildlife common, so that adding to endangered species lists becomes uncommon."

The bill has nonpartisan support in Congress and a host of fans, from environmentalists to hunters to soccer moms. The Trust for Public Land, the National Governors' Association and the Chamber of Commerce want the bill enacted. Opponents don't want a federal land-grab and say the bill would hurt landowners' rights. But as Sansom wrote in a letter seeking senate support, "In Texas, however, you can be assured we will only buy land from willing sellers, of which there are many."

In Texas, the talk these days is of quality of life. This bill would provide dollars to sustain quality of life. The vote should be an easy call in the Senate.