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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release February 2, 1998

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Land and Water Conservation Fund Acquisitions

Last spring, in concluding an historic Balanced Budget Agreement with the Congress, one of my highest priorities was ensuring the funds needed to continue our efforts to protect America's natural treasures. With those funds now appropriated, I am pleased that today, Secretaries Babbitt and Glickman are transmitting to Congress a list of sites that are particularly precious to Americans and deserving of our stewardship.

Each of the 100 sites on this list represents an important piece of America's natural and historic legacy. With these acquisitions, we will put the finishing touches on the renowned Appalachian Trail and secure critical winter range for Yellowstone's bison and elk. We will rebuild salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest and protect an ancient caldera in New Mexico that is home to one of the country's largest elk herds. We will preserve Civil War battlefields where Americans fought and died. We will safeguard vital swaths of this great land literally from coast to coast.

I am extremely proud of our success in preserving Yellowstone, the Everglades, Lake Tahoe and the red rock canyons of Utah. The budget I submit today to Congress -- the first balanced budget in a generation -- will allow us to save even more of America's natural and historic treasures. I am confident that with the bipartisan support of Congress, we can continue not only to protect but to restore nature's magnificent gifts. Together, we can assure that future generations know and enjoy this land in all its true splendor.

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