| The recently passed Interior
appropriations bill provides enhanced funding
levels for many important conservation programs (including at least
$550 million/year for the Land and Water Conservation
Fund) and encourages the Congress to
consistently fund these programs for the next six years. The bill
also dropped out dangerous provisions in the CARA (Conservation and
Reinvestment Act) bill that would have threatened our
fragile coasts with increased oil drilling and
the construction of destructive infrastructure projects.
Still, many supporters of CARA were greatly disappointed by the
funding levels included in the Interior bill, which has
been seen as a sort of "CARA Lite."
While the Interior bill funding does fall far short of our goal
of obtaining long-term full funding ($900 million/year) for the LWCF,
it did go through without the
anti-enviornmental provisions of CARA.
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