Habitat
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:
Over the past 28 years, the Land and Water
Conservation Fund financed by offshore oil and gas
drilling royalties has raised more than $9 billion, the
revenues from which––$900 million a year––were sup-
posed to have been spent on acquiring land for national
parks and wildlife refuges. However, the Ronald
Reagan and George Bush administrations gradually
diverted the money elsewhere. The current federal bud-
get, Bush’s last, allocated only $284 million for land
acquisition, and Bill Clinton’s proposed budget cuts that
24%, to just $208 million.
China has set aside 77,000 square miles in
northern Tibet as a wildlife sanctuary––an area the
size of South Dakota. More than 125,000 square miles
of the remote Himalayan nation had already been
reserved for wildlife. Nearly 40% of Tibet is now offi-
cially protected habitat for yaks, snow leopards, rare
high-altitude sheep, and a vareity of antelope species.
New York City has announced plans to sepa-
rate the Central Park Reservoir from the city water
system later this year. The reservoir, one of the critical
habitats for New York’s urban wildlife, may be added to
the park area intact––or may be drained, filled, and
converted into athletic fields.
