During 1969 advocates of stepped-up acquisition of land for parks relearned an old lesson: authorization of funds is no guarantee of money in hand.
In 1968 Congress authorized annual appropriations for five years of $200 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for purchasing new land for parks. This is roughly double what had previously been available annually. The Congress, as well as park officials and supporters, had been dismayed by mounting land costs. Sums authorized to acquire land for new parks had repeatedly proven inadequate. The new and larger annual appropriation was seen as one step, perhaps an inadequate one, to forestall escalation in land costs.
For the fiscal year 1969 (which ended June 30) Congress appropriated $145 million, of which $53 million was to repay advances that had been made from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, to acquire land for the Redwoods National Park. Thus only $92 million was available for land acquisition by federal agencies and states during the fiscal year. The Bureau of the Budget impounded half of this remainder as part of the general economy effort of 1968. Instead of the authorized $200 million, only $46 million was available for buying land.
For fiscal 1970 the Department of the Interior originally requested $154 million; in a revised economy budget submitted later, the department's request was reduced to $124 million. Some people fear that part of even this reduced appropriation may be impounded.
Supporters of parks are unhappy. Land costs have continued to escalate; sums which would once have been adequate no longer are, and ultimate acquisition of many choice areas has been jeopardized by the shortfall in funds as compared to authorizations. Unless currently authorized federal and state park projects are to be abandoned or cut back severely, and unless desirable additional areas are to be abandoned entirely, this curb on authorized expenditures is costly. Given the unfavorable financial outlook, many members of the Congress and of state legislative bodies are naturally loath to authorize additional projects, however desirable they may be.
The park interests of the country thought they had a policy commitment for the $200 million annual appropriations. Gaps between legislative authorization and actual congressional appropriations have occurred many times in the past; what the park people find hardest to bear in the present situation is that the Executive Branch has not sought appropriations up to the authorized level. They have pointed out further that the authorized sum is too small to meet the need, and various proposals have been made to increase the authorization. But there is little point, perhaps, in so doing if actual appropriations continue to lag far behind authorizations. State park people are still further concerned at what they believe to be a movement to reduce the state share of whatever funds are appropriated, from half to 40%. All in all, park people are unhappy.
A version of this article appeared in print in the January 1970 issue of Resources magazine.
