The Wilderness Act celebrated its 40th anniversary
last year, loudly and publicly. This year, the 40th anniversary of
the Land and Water Conservation Fund is going nearly unnoticed, and
the fund remains under constant threat (HCN, 5/2/05: As threats
loom, conservation dollars disappear).
This money is
vital to the future of public lands in the United States. Funding
the Land and Water Conservation Fund does not mean the vast
expansion of federal ownership, creeping out of Western mountain
ranges to interfere with private rights. Typically, it pays for
private lands that owners want to make part of the public estate:
lands that are inholdings or adjacent to now scarce and preserved
land.
There remain an estimated 400,000 acres of
privately owned lands within our designated wilderness areas. These
private lands retain the right to develop, timber, mine, build
roads and extend utilities. Some owners are excellent stewards,
some are not. But all private lands are intrusions into wild places
where we are meant to be just visitors.
This year, we can
all celebrate the Land and Water Conservation Fund by making sure
our representatives know that it is important to us, to future
generations and to private inholders who wish to do the right
thing, and pass their lands on to the public.
Reid Haughey, President
The Wilderness
Land Trust
Carbondale, Colorado
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Land and water conservation fund vital to wilderness.
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