Around the Region
President Clinton last week proposed devoting $1 billion a year
to preserve urban parks, wildlife areas and other "precious lands"
across the United States. The plan, which must pass muster in the Republican-held
Congress, would make permanent a one-year proposal that Clinton put forward
in his fiscal 2000 budget to protect national parks and urban outskirts.
The proposal allocates $1 billion a year for such land conservation projects,
a 125 percent increase over current levels. About half would go to support
state and local efforts to preserve open space, urban parks, coastal wetlands,
farm land and forests. The rest would go for federal projects. Reuters
